Kobe Bryant Discussion: Mamba Out!

Kobe hasn't been in "on-mode" since right before he went down with his achilles injury. This isn't a challenge for him to fight through, this is the end, that's why he's retiring. The only option I see for him is to drop his minutes to 25 per game max, and to start playing smarter. If he plays less per game and picks his spots more, plays team ball more like he has in the maybe 4 good games he's had this season, he can still finish on a good note IMO.

 

Agreed. This is not a slump, this is the end of his career. He can't shoot through this. He needs to accept his limitations and pick his spots. Last game was a good step in the right direction, but not at 32 minutes per game.

 

The team who is paying him.

 

Well, my script would be better. Right now he's Fantastic Four out there. I'd at least have him at Ant-Man.

 

See I don't understand that at all. You're telling me a student of the game and a brilliant basketball mind can't figure out he's playing the worst basketball he's ever played in his life and he can't figure out how to fix it? He's too dumb to play smart?

No. He's too stubborn to play smart. He's actively deciding not to do what's best for the team in an effort to... I don't even know? Re-live some sort of glory days? Run some sort of experiment on exactly how far he can push a worn-down body? Ludicrous.

 

Yeah I'm done with this. If this version of Kobe is good for you, then that's your opinion and you and Kobe can enjoy that opinion.

I will continue to hold him to a higher standard than 30% shooting and his worst assist rate since 1999.

 

There is no trying to reason why Kobe is playing this way. He CAN play smarter, we have seen it, right now it's that he won't. I can't reason why he's playing this way though. You can't really say it's because he wants to score as many points as possible on his way out, because he's shooting so poorly he's not scoring a lot of points. You can't say it's because he's trying to shoot out of it, because he's said he doesn't have his legs and he knows he physically can't do the same things anymore.

He's said this season is about developing the youth, for the future of the franchise, but his style of play isn't helping them or teaching them anything valuable at all. You can see that from Russell's comments on playing with the bench last night. So he's certainly not playing for that reason. Only reason I can see for playing this style of ball is that he doesn't really care. Knows the team stinks, is going to put up shots for fun (to him), and what he thinks the fans want to see (and apparently some do for some reason).

That's not saying Kobe doesn't care about the youth, or doesn't want to win when he goes out there, or doesn't care about the Lakers. I'm saying he doesn't really have cares or worries right now, he's on the way out so it doesn't really matter what happens, in that sense he doesn't care. The team isn't competing for a title or even the playoffs, and he won't be here next season, so I don't see a lot for Kobe to care about, he's collecting his last checks, adding a bit to his number totals, and saying goodbye to fans. I guess it kinda sucks that this is hurting his career wins %, shooting %, and scoring average, but again, he doesn't seem to care. Sorry to keep repeating that phrase, but some here don't seem to get how it's being used about Kobe, trying to make it clearer.

 

Agree with realdeal. Kobe is capable of playing smart because that's what he did last night. Why he waited until Byron benched the kids to do it, I don't know and it frustrates me.

Last night was the kind of game he should have been playing since the season started: only four three pointers, the rest was mid-range and in. The results: 7 of 12 from mid-range and in, and predictably 25% on threes. But limiting those threes was absolutely key. He played to his strengths not his weaknesses. Oh yeah, and 8 rebounds and several assists.

So that's proof he CAN play smart.

 

Good piece by Plaschke, and I don't say that lightly. I've been a vocal critic of Plaschke's writing because he just doesn't know basketball, IMO. But I do think he's a great human interest sports writer and this one he nailed.

 

I don't think I've ever read anything by Plaschke better than that. Brutal, but true (although I think he meant Washington Generals?), he's suggests the most obvious and simple solution so many here and everywhere else have said, and I don't see how Kobe can't see that would benefit him. Remember that article from preseason, one scout or GM said the Lakers have created a monster here...yup.