From week to week, I have attempted to make this column the paragon of equal-opportunity coverage. While I generally offer my opinions on a diverse number of sports-related topics, recent events of historical proportion have forced me to come back to the topic of Kobe Bryant.

By this point in the week, if you 1) have been in the vicinity of any sports fan, 2) flipped past ESPN while trying to find something worthwhile to watch at 2 a.m. anytime in the past three days or 3) are even at least a casual fan of basketball, then you have undoubtedly heard of Kobe’s 81. For those of you who have glanced through my last few words, and still have no idea what I’m talking about, “Kobe’s 81” is not a new band. But don’t worry. Just keep reading. You will be inspired.

I visited espn.com, cbssportsline.com, cnnsi.com, foxsports.com, nba.com, sports.yahoo.com, dimemag.com and hoopshype.com on Sunday night (and for that matter, all over again on Monday too), attempting to see just one more take on Kobe’s magnificent performance Sunday night. I think I’ve finally exhausted them all, though the buzz will no doubt inspire additional insights by writers across the nation for some time to come.

In the mean time, here’s one more.

First, let me set the stage for those who haven’t heard. In the month of January, up until Sunday night, Kobe had been averaging an amazing 42 points per game, leading the Los Angeles Lakers’ push for playoff contention (they’re currently seventh in the West). On Sunday night, Kobe stepped on the court at the Staples Center and prepared himself for just another game against Toronto.

By halftime, he was holding a Kobe-esque stat-line with 26 points in 18 minutes, but the Lakers still trailed the Raptors by 14 points, 49-63.

That changed at about the nine-minute mark of the third quarter. Kobe wasn’t about to let the Lakers lose. He took it upon himself to ensure that his vision of victory would not go unrealized that night. Bryant just let loose on the Raptors, draining contested shot after contested shot, finishing the period with 27 points and a total of 53 with one quarter still to play. By this point in the game, the Lakers had taken the lead, 91-85. It was a close-enough game that I was sure Kobe would have 60 by the end of the fourth period and might even beat his then-career high — set a few weeks ago — of 62.

But Kobe had other plans. He iced the game, making history all the while. And as Chick Hearn, the late legendary Lakers broadcaster would have said, he made sure the game was in the refrigerator, the lights were out, the eggs were cooling, the butter was getting hard and the Jello was assuredly jigglin’! And when he drained his 18th free throw of the game with 43 seconds remaining, Kobe tallied his 81st point of the contest.

Just imagine the magnitude of the scoring exhibition — these 81 points come in second in NBA history, trailing only Wilt Chaimberlain’s celebrated 100-point game. In his magnificent performance, Wilt took 63 field goal attempts. By comparison, Kobe took just 46 (not even a career-high ... interpret this how you may).

In fact, the astounding statistic was that, up until that night, 99 squads this season had failed as an entire team to match the scoring output of Kobe’s 81. Truly, the effort was a sight to behold, and the questions inevitably recurred: would Kobe ever reach the ever-mythical century mark? (It truly is mythical, since there is no video footage of Wilt’s barrage of points.)

After all, several “experts” criticized Kobe in blogs and columns following his three-quarter 62-point showing in December. They claimed that he would never again have the same chance to pursue history and this was likely a feat that would not be repeated in an enormously long time. They were wrong, unless by “enormously long time”, they meant just a few weeks.

Kobe showed the world Sunday night that he is currently the most outstanding basketball player in the league. This is a man in whom most would be disappointed if he scored fewer than 40 points on any given night.

I think most would be satisfied with being the best of the best-of-the-best at the peak of their careers. But not Kobe. He admitted immediately following the game that he likely would not be able to understand the magnitude of the feat for some time, but that he was ecstatic about his team getting the “W.”

It is Kobe’s never-ending thirst to win and to improve that leads him to blaze his path to greatness — and as he showed us one more time on Sunday night, it is a thirst that is not and will never be satisfied.