The fact that Bryant scored 60 last night is not surprising at all and at the same time I couldn't care much less about his last game. What the Warriors did is so much more impressive. That said, I didn't watch either game (and I was up. I have a 3 1/2 month old).
For me, it just comes down to Bryant just not being a transcendent player. What he's done has been done before. So while there is no doubt that he is one of the best player in the history of the NBA and he is a no brainer 1st ballot Hall of Famer based on stats and contributions to championship teams, his accomplishments are not impressive by comparison to Jordan, Magic, Bird, Shaq or even LaBron.
It also seems that regardless of how many All-NBA teams he made (15) and was pretty much the best off-guard for about a decade, he was never the far and away best player at his position. There always seemed to be another SG who could be a viable replacement player. For instance, Could the Shaq-era Lakers win titles with merely a slightly above average replacement level starting SG (or even a replacement level)? Yes, I believe they could and as anecdotal as it may be, it was born out when Shaq was traded to the Heat and won with Wade.
There is also that whole Denver thing...