Robert Griffin III Busted Out The Calculus To Suggest That Last Night Lonnie Walker IV Was Just Kobe Bryant Reincarnated

Andrew D. Bernstein. Getty Images.

What makes the NBA Playoff so fun to watch is that in any given game, you never know who is going to step up and have a performance that can completely change a series. If you want to take it to an extreme level, you could say you never know who is going to step up with a performance that could ultimately change the course of NBA history forever. We know that in most cases the stars are going to show up and put up big numbers and have awesome moments, but if you look all throughout history there are plenty of moments where role players step up and have an out of body experience that helps their team win.

That is what happened with Lonnie Walker IV and the Lakers last night. Fitz broke it down last night if you're a fellow Lakers fan and you'd like to enjoy some Lakers porn this morning. They did what both the Celts and the Kings were not able to do and they put the Warriors on the brink by not dropping their Game 4. They put that 3-1 pressure on the defending champs with some of the best individual performances we've seen so far these playoffs given the circumstances. From Lonnie Walker to Anthony Davis' absolutely insane individual defense putting Steph Curry in jail on the perimeter like it was the 2016 NBA Finals all over again

The Lakers now find themselves just one more win away from the Western Conference Finals. Huge win for them.

But back to Lonnie Walker IV for a second. 

After his series changing performance, he deserved all the praise in the world. It wasn't just the fact that he had 15 points while playing all 12 minutes of the 4th quarter, it was that he also went 6-9 from the floor. No other Laker took more than 3 FGA! The timing of his buckets could not have been bigger, as they came every time it looked like the Warriors were maybe trying to throw one last haymaker. That was an example of a guy being ready for the moment and taking advantage of his opportunity. I may despise the Lakers as an overall franchise, but I can respect a role player stepping up in a huge moment and making that type of impact.

Sadly, part of you should have known what was coming. It happens a lot whenever something good happens with Lakers players. Their fans somehow turn it into something about Kobe Bryant. Now I can understand why on some level, because Walker did do something that hadn't been done since Kobe

Hey, that's a pretty cool fact. As someone who appreciates NBA history, I found that interesting. I certainly would have guessed that at some point since 1997 there was a Lakers role player who had a hot 4th quarter, but nope it's only Kobe and Lonnie Walker IV. I did not know that.

Of course, there are going to be some who take this wayyyy too far. Enter Robert Griffin III

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Alright now hold on a minute. What are we doing here Robert? It's one thing to point out how Walker IV did something for the first time since Kobe. Nothing wrong with that in my opinion. It's a little much to then suggest that the spirit of Kobe Bryant actually took over Lonnie Walker IV's body and that's why we got the performance we did. That's kind of disrespectful to both the player and Kobe if we're being honest. Just let the man rest in peace.

I thought maybe this was just the case of a hyped up Lakers fan being drunk on the Lakers Kool Aid. Lord knows we've all been there a time or two with our favorite teams, so who am I to judge?

Then I saw that second tweet.

The best part by far is the 

"2-6=-4-Lonnie Walker IV’s Number"

calculation. This is an issue considering Lonnie Walker IV wears #4 as there is no -4 in the NBA, which sort of throws a wrench in this whole idea. I get what RGIII was going for, but he forced this one in there. Maybe he thought nobody would notice and just wanted to get the fire tweet off for the engagement, which is another thing we can all relate to on some level.

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Part of me sort of respects that RGIII has left these tweets up because he's getting absolutely roasted on the internet, but let's not pretend that it isn't certifiably insane. Not everything that happens has to be some sort of Kobe worship to the point where you need to reach to extreme levels to try and make a connection. It's OK to just celebrate the awesome night Lonnie Walker IV had while acknowledging that he did something no Laker had achieved since Kobe. You can honor Kobe that way! Doing stuff like this just feels weird.

I will say, even though a handful of years have passed, Kobe's death still seems surreal and I'm not sure that will ever change. Perhaps RGIII's tweet wouldn't be so weird if Kobe was still alive, but the whole thing just feels kind of gross. I get being excited, but take a few breaths here Robert. We don't need to try and use numerology or whatever just to make something up. Just appreciate the performance like a normal person.

Seriously though, what a showing from Lonnie Walker IV.