Kobe Bryant is not having a good season, and he knows it.
He also knows that the Los Angeles Lakers are, collectively, plagued by more misfortune, and he would like us all to know it.
Here’s what the Black Mamba had to say on the heels of the Lakers’ 111-77 to the still undefeated Golden State Warriors, per ESPN.com’s Baxter Holmes:
I’m not really worried about it, honestly. My shooting will be better. I could’ve scored 80 tonight. It wouldn’t have made a damn difference. We just have bigger problems. I could be out there averaging 35 points a game. We’d be what, 3-11? We’ve got to figure out how to play systematically in a position that’s going to keep us in ballgames.
Kobe’s remarks come after he shot 1-of-14 from the floor against Golden State, tying the worst shooting performance of his 20-year career, per Holmes. His night was yet another reminder in a long string of evidence that proves Kobe isn’t anywhere close to Kobe, and that the NBA has passed him by.
Which, truthfully, isn’t headline-worthy. At least it shouldn’t be. Kobe is 37 years old and has been dogged by various injuries since the end of 2012-13. Players age. Bodies break down. Production suffers. It happens.
But Kobe’s devolution, while expected and in some ways unavoidable, comes at a time when the Lakers cannot do anything right. He’s correct to point out that they have bigger problems than his incurable downturn, but he’s also culpable in their seeming inability to adequately prioritize the future over everything else, even Kobe’s swan song.
There is no need for him to lead this Lakers team in shot attempts every night. His primal role should be that of a facilitator and someone who, ya know, actually tries on defense. The Lakers offense isn’t helping him, mind you. It’s a never-ending onrush of poor ball movement, half-assed screens and players running pointless circles around their teammates. It’s ugly, just like most of Kobe’s efforts on defense.
I’m not in the locker room, so I’m not about to say the Lakers have quit. But they are failing to deviate from a hopelessly flawed approached to this season.
If they want No. 24’s shooting struggles to become a footnote, the Lakers need to feature those around him. And if they want a shot at remedying Kobe’s shooting troubles, well, they need to be more than uninventive in the way they run their offense.
