X

Have feedback / suggestions? Let us know!

NBA Los Angeles Lakers

Los Angeles Lakers’ Kobe Bryant Has Earned High Shot Output

By @DSchultz89

Kobe Bryant NBA Lakers

Getty Images

During the first few weeks of the NBA regular season, one of the main stories around the league has been Kobe Bryant and the struggling Los Angeles Lakers.

The Lakers are now 1-9, and a lot of the blame is being wrongly placed on Bryant and his shot output thus far. Through the first ten games of the season, Bryant is attempting 24.4 field goals per contest and only connecting on 9.9 of them for a less than stellar mark of 37.7 percent. He is also shooting an unremarkable 29 percent from beyond the three-point line.

While it may be easy to look at just the numbers and think of Bryant’s actions off the court that have played a big part in shaping this current Lakers squad, criticizing him for shooting too much seems a little unfair if you have been truly watching him play so far this year. During the Lakers’ game against the San Antonio Spurs on Nov. 14, Bryant frequently looked to get his teammates involved more so than he has done in his career. He finished 1-of-14 shooting for the game, but I was actually impressed at just how much he was looking to pass throughout the game so he could get his guys going.

Sadly, the Lakers are just not that good of a team this year. Their second-best player is arguably Jeremy Lin, who is entering his first season with yet another new team and system. So far Lin has played mostly very well, averaging 11.7 PPG, 4.4 APG and 2.8 RPG while shooting 43 percent from the field and 39 percent from downtown. Forward Carlos Boozer might still be a respectable offensive player who can knock down a mid-range jumper once in a while, but his defense (or lack thereof) remains a huge concern. In fact, the Lakers have next to no post defensive presence outside of Ed Davis who comes off the bench.

Basically, this is a Lakers team that is desperately clawing for an identity in the early stages of the season, and the results are what one would typically expect when one looks at their roster. Maybe people did not anticipate them being this bad this early on, but considering who is on their roster outside of Bryant, it is not the least bit shocking they have only won one game.

Bryant is no dummy, as he knows this team is not good enough to make the playoffs. If these Lakers have any chance of being at least slightly competitive, it will be up to him to play the “hero-ball” mode that he used during the post-Shaquille O’Neal/pre-Pau Gasol days. He is also currently only 320 points away from surpassing Michael Jordan on the all-time scoring list for No. 3 in NBA history, and you know that is probably his primary focus right now. And you cannot blame him for wanting to accomplish that feat, because anyone would love the opportunity to move past Jordan in the record books. There is unfortunately nothing Bryant can do to make the Lakers into a title contender before he retires from the game.

It is in his best interest to try to score as many points as he can at this point, because receiving more individual accolades is the only thing he will be able to do from this point forward.

Dan Schultz is an NBA sports writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on twitter @dschultz89. “Like” him on Facebook and add him on Google.

Share Tweet
Trending Now on