Fil-Am busboy outshoots Kobe

MANILA, Philippines - Most people would agree that Kobe Bryant of the Los Angeles Lakers is one of the greatest NBA players of all time. But his reputation could have been tarnished a bit after a Filipino busboy beat him in a basketball shootout.

Kobe was simply no match for the awesome skills of Ricardo Reyes in a mini-basketball game of “Pop-a-Shot.” Kobe lost to Reyes, 82-58.

At one point in the shootout, with Reyes poised to out shoot him, Kobe deflected a shot of Reyes but this did not prevent the Filipino busboy from winning the game.

Reyes went home driving a brand new car, leaving Kobe eating his dust, so to speak, wondering how he lost the bet.

Kobe, who has won Most Valuable Player honors both for the NBA season and the finals, showed up last Thursday on “Jimmy Kimmel Live: Game Night” to compete with Reyes, who has already earned a reputation as a “Pop-A-Shot” master.

Reports collected from the Web showed that the 41-year-old Reyes has defeated all contenders at the mini-basketball game, including NBA stars LeBron James of the Miami Heat, Carmelo Anthony of the Denver Nuggets, Laker’s Lamar Odom and basketball legend Charles Barkley, who last played with the Houston Rockets before retiring.

“King” James even tried to distract Reyes but the Los Angeles-based Filipino stayed focused en route to a 72-42 rout in a 30-second shooting match.

Reyes, it was reported, is capable of making 240 out of 250 shots in three minutes, roughly 1.35 shots a second.

The game is relatively simple. It has a backboard that is a smaller version of the official one being played in the NBA. The basket is about seven to 10 feet high and eight feet away. The goal of the game is to sink as many shots as possible in 40 seconds with three seven-inch wide balls that roll back down to the player. Score more than 40 points and you get a free game.

Reyes, who works as a busboy at Barney’s Beanery in Los Angeles, began playing the game 10 years ago.

Kimmel discovered Reyes and brought him on the show.

Reyes admitted that he is not particularly thrilled about meeting NBA players during the match.

According to Reyes, he needed to do something during breaks so he turned his attention to mini-basketball.

At first his scores were in the 300s, then the 400s. Night after night, once the bar closed, Reyes took his hard-earned tips and fed them into the machine. When he came home, Reyes always figured in a spat with his wife, who wanted to know where the hard-earned money went.

Reyes said he could not give a straight answer to his wife but he loved the simplicity of the game and the feeling of being unbeatable.

After routing Kobe last Thursday, a surprised Reyes was handed the keys of a Ford Mustang by Kimmel.

“When she sees my car, I say, okay, there is the money,” Reyes said.