FanHouse PapeSow

Tip-Off Timer counts down the days until the first game of the 2009-10 season. On Friday, there are exactly 81 days remaining.

On January 22, 2006, Kobe Bryant scored 81 points against the Toronto Raptors. Whether you love Kobe or hate him, most would agree that It was, in all probability, the greatest individual scoring performance that we'll ever see in our lifetime.

But don't take my word for it -- hear it from someone who was actually there when it happened.

In a special edition of the RoundCast, Craig Kwasniewski of The Association joined me to talk about what it was like to be in the building as Kobe went off on this historic night. We discussed the 2006 Lakers, the 81-point game itself, and wondered if we'll ever see another performance like that again in the future.

Our conversation can be heard after the jump.

This offseason, NBA FanHouse will address important questions about the league. It will be a Summer of Answers. First up: the biggest draft busts of the decade.

Unless you're a fan of the Toronto Raptors or a huge NBA Draft nerd follower, you may have read that headline and thought, "who's Rafael Araujo? Never heard of him." That was my initial thought anyway, and that, my friends, is exactly why Mr. Araujo comes in at number four on our Biggest Busts of the '00s list.

When you look back at the 2004 draft, everyone taken in the first seven picks before Araujo turned out to be productive NBA (or Euroleague) players. Well, except for Shaun Livingston who had the gruesome knee injury two seasons ago. But that's no biggie, right? The talent level could have simply dropped off after that point, and Araujo could have been the first on a long list of disappointments who just happened to be drafted eighth overall. Unfortunately for him (and the Raptors), this was a very deep draft.

Players selected after Rafael (pronounced "HA-f-eye-ell" if you believe NBA.com) include Al Jefferson, Josh Smith, J.R. Smith, Kevin Martin, Sasha Vujacic, Beno Udrih, Anderson Varejao, Pape Sow ... just seeing if you were still paying attention. The point is this: when a player is selected with the number eight pick, with this much talent still on the board, and his career averages over three seasons are under three points and three rebounds a game, I don't know if "bust" is a strong enough word to describe his NBA status.