While personally not quite going that far there's definitely some truth in what you're saying. He's playing at about 50% of the Kobe we're used to seeing. He should be used accordingly. He doesn't have the "right" to do anything. He got paid and that's enough.
He earned the right to respect, his accolades, and his paycheck, that's it. Part of the reason he was so comfortable taking that deal was because he thought he could still lead a team to a championship. Well, he can't. He's capable of leading in the manner Tim Duncan leads at this point. If your style of play demads that you dominate the ball, then you have to produce. If you don't produce it's on the coach to use you in a way that's best for the team.
If Byron cut Kobe's minutes to no more than 30 minutes a game I think Kobe's efficiency would go up. I hope Kobe shuts it down a couple of games and then Byron keeps his minutes under 30. If not we'll see more of what we've seen the last couple of games and possible injury. Popovich has been doing this with Tim Duncan since Duncan hit his 30's. Also Nick Young and Jeremy Lin should have the ball in their hands at the end of games more often.
Baxter Holmes @BaxterHolmes · 15m 15 minutes ago Wow RT @SportsCenter: Crazy Stat of Day: Kobe Bryant has missed 380 shots this season. Dirk Nowitzki has taken 382 shots this season.
It's a intesting stat I guess, but Baxter Holmes retweeting it with a "wow" just shows how much he hates Kobe. I mean he really, really has it out for the guy.
there was a sorta funny movie called "the baxter" about the proverbial dude who gets left at the altar. seems to work here... that said, I've been in kobe's corner a lot this year, but that kings game...holy moly that was bad basketball from a guy who knows better. whatever, captain the tank, kobe. need that pick. badly.
yeah, I wonder how many more consecutive 8-25s it's going to take for him to reign it in a bit. I know he's not image-conscious, but I also think it's to the point where him taking a contested shot is no longer better than the other options on the floor. and that's saying something--because the other options are crap right now.
Christopher Walken represents Kobe here. This is a little scene that made me think of the Lakers organisation trying to stop Kobe from playing. Methinks that Byron may be the person that rescues him from the chair when he finds he has to actually design plays in the fourth quarter
They just like to compare Kobe to Dirk since Dirk took less $ intentionally this summer. Not rooting for Dirk to lose, but it would be nice if ESPN rode the Mavs through the finals and they lost, and Kobe rode out into the sunset winning his 6th while ESPN continued to bag him.
This is a very good game to miss. Let the young guys get some burn against the most devastating backcourt in the biz.
I was checking to see if the lakers had won that game that he was benched (To create a bspn stat of the day), and according to basketball reference, they didn't even play a game that day. Of course the coach benched him.
