Kobe Bryant is a realist.
Sometimes.
And this is one of those times.
Although the Black Mamba can be stubborn, if delusional, about his ebbing abilities, the last few years of his career have seen him evolve into a more pensive realist. He’s not about to declare himself a top-10 player, even if he carries himself like one on the court, chucking up anything he sees fit.
Along those same lines, he’s not about to pretend the Los Angeles Lakers don’t suck. At minimum, he seems prepared to admit that he won’t be adding a sixth NBA title to his resume.
Rings are sort of viewed as a touchy subject with Kobe. We talk about how bad the Lakers are, and about how this is probably his last season. But seldom is he, it seems, asked about the absence of that sixth ring, the one that would bring him to a dead championship heat with Michael Jordan.
Well, Kobe talked about his pursuit of a sixth title while making an appearance on Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski’s radio show for SiriusXM, and you don’t have to read between the lines to see that he realizes said pursuit is long since over.
Here’s an excerpt from the discussion between him and Coach K, courtesy of the Los Angeles Daily News‘ Mark Medina:
Bryant has continued that quest in his 20th NBA season by relying on what he calls “repetition” on various jump shooting and defensive drills. But Bryant has averaged only 16.9 points on a career-low 33.6 percent shooting in eight games. He has already missed three games, two to nurse a sore back and one to rest.
That left Bryant painfully honest about a few things.
Bryant sighed and laughed about the state of his health.
“My body’s sore as hell,” he said. “My knees are sore. My legs are sore.”
The Lakers’ 37-year-old star player conceded the likelihood that his NBA career will not feature another image of him holding the Larry O’Brien trophy.
“Of course I want love to win another championship. But my responsibility now is to think outside of what I want,” Bryant said. “My responsibility is to these young players.”
So, um, here’s to progress, right?
Kobe’s responsibility is most definitely to the Lakers’ young guns. But you have to wonder if he’s fully embracing that responsibility as much as he says. Is it really helping D’Angelo Russell and Jordan Clarkson and Julius Randle that Kobe leads the team in usage rate, per Basketball-Reference.com? And that he’s missed almost as many shots as Randle and Russell have taken?
Not that it particularly matters. In all likelihood, Kobe won’t be around beyond this season. By not publicly complaining, and by accepting this team for what it is (bad), he’s saving the Lakers from unnecessary rumor-mill hardship.
Kobe knows what the Lakers are. He knows they won’t be contending for a title anytime soon.
And after this season, if he’s still feeling spry enough to play, he likely knows he’ll have to journey outside Los Angeles to chase anything remotely meaningful.
