NBA Los Angeles Lakers

Kobe Bryant’s Best Assist Still To Come For Los Angeles Lakers

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By @fanforlife1988

Kobe Bryant, Lebron James

Getty Images Sport – Juan Ocampo

Long past playing towards the hope of contending for a playoff spot in the Western Conference, the Los Angeles Lakers have chalked up this NBA season to a lost cause. First Round pick Julius Randle, was lost just minutes into the season, which still was longer than Steve Nash lasted in his third and final year with the team.

Nash, whose trade to Los Angeles has crippled the team, not from a financial standpoint, but rather from what they gave up to get him, has left the Lakers paying a steep price. Clinging to the potential of keeping a top-five protected draft pick, the Lakers are losing games at an alarming rate, which never before has been seen by fans of the once proud organization.

With Kobe Bryant still on the roster, this season’s course has been anything but acceptable. This is why nearly halfway through the season, the Lakers made the correct move to begin sitting Bryant fairly frequently, knowing just how little they have to play for this year. The Lakers aren’t just resting Bryant to combat fatigue with the hope that he makes it through the season – they’re doing it to preserve him towards something bigger.

Following a career-high 17 assists against Lebron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers, Bryant exercised the opportunity to reveal what this final chapter of his career can present. A willingness to share the basketball, while understanding his current abilities and limitations is commendable. But when the players on the receiving end of those assists are the likes of Jordan Hill, Jeremy Lin, Wes Johnson and Ed Davis, it’s a credit to just how underrated that facet of Bryant’s game truly is.

More importantly, however, is that the 19-year veteran showcased this almost dormant skill set of his, in what will probably be the most remembered game of the season for the Lakers.

Make no mistake, Bryant wasn’t auditioning himself for a role with another team next season. Rather, he was sending out an open invitation to all of the players around the league, who’ve heard of his perceived selfishness and egocentric attitude, that the Bryant they think they know isn’t true, and that at the reality of it all, he is willing to make his teammates’ lives a whole lot easier.

While Bryant can still score in bunches, it also requires a larger amount of shot attempts to do so than ever before. The NBA has moved away from individual dominant scorers, and more towards the efficiency of getting the best shot possible. Kevin Durant, who has led the league in scoring in four of the previous five seasons, brings so much more to his team than just high-volume shooting and scoring.

This was never more evident than when Durant averaged career highs in both points and assists, securing his first MVP award in the process. As he experienced earlier this season, leading the league in scoring is not always a great thing when it serves as a detriment to the team, and not to its benefit.

Players such as Marc Gasol, Kevin Love, Lamarcus Aldridge and Greg Monroe are all going to be available on the free agent market this upcoming offseason. While prying each of those players away from their current situation isn’t going to be easy, the Lakers have to feel good about what they can offer. Along with cap space, prestige and more opportunities than anywhere else to pursue outside career interests, the Lakers have an ace in their deck.

They have Bryant, the most decorated NBA player since Michael Jordan, who now more than ever, is willingly capable of entrusting the organization over to the next player in line.

Not only is Bryant willing to be the one making the play for his teammates, he’s also eager to help make them the next star of the Lakers as well. By preserving himself for at least one more season, Bryant will be prepared for all of the responsibility that will come with next season’s hopeful upward trajectory. With very little left to achieve in his career from an individual standpoint, leaving the Lakers in good hands means everything to Bryant. And as a Lakers fan, that is the greatest assist any of us can ever ask for.

Zach Fetaru is a writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @fanforlife1988, ”like him” on Facebook and add him to your network on Google.

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