<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">BOSTON -- Kobe Bryant shifted the ball precisely to where he desired it to be -- in his hands, on the way to the hoop, in complete control of a two-on-one fast-break opportunity against the San Antonio Spurs. The easiest path to the basket was obvious. All he had to do was keep the ball, be Kobe, inflict the kind of physical and emotional damage that only the truly gifted can wield, then effortlessly glide back down the floor on defense. "I thought about it,'' Bryant confessed. "I knew I could have just jumped over Tony Parker and scored.'' His instincts urged him in that direction, but instead Bryant hesitated -- and then did a most curious thing. He slowed down, held up, and almost pulled back before dishing the ball to teammate Maurice Evans. The fourth-year journeyman bobbled it momentarily before finishing off the play. "If he drops it,'' said Bryant, chuckling, "[Lakers coach] Phil [Jackson] is going to be shouting to me, 'Kobe. Just take it to the hole!''' Bryant can score just about whenever he wants. That has been true since he was 11 years old and schooling teenagers on the playground. It was still true Jan. 28, on that fast break against the Spurs. He proved it last season, when he led the league in scoring with a career-high 35.4 points a night, dropped 81 points on Toronto, and was branded a gluttonous athlete who already had secured his quota of championship hardware and was now enamored with compiling gaudy statistics. See? Told you Kobe was selfish. "It was hurtful to hear that kind of stuff,'' Bryant said. "Did they think this was something I all of a sudden discovered I could do? I've been able to put up points since the day I walked into this league. But, in the past, I deferred from doing that to win championships. "It was necessary last year for me to score. We had a new system and too many young new players. Phil and I discussed it. He told me, 'You are going to have to shoulder the load until everyone else catches up.''' He shouldered the load; they didn't catch up. He kept shooting, had fun doing it. His image, already in tatters from a very public and humiliating trial for allegations of rape, took a nosedive on the court as well. Jackson scolded him for fixating on the criticism. A true leader, he lectured, was impervious to outside distractions. "He told me, 'Let it roll off your back,''' Bryant said. "So I tried. But it was a long summer.'' While Kobe was contemplating and eventually would undergo knee surgery, former Lakers teammate Shaquille O'Neal won another ring, this time with Miami. He deferred to young Dwyane Wade with considerable fanfare and revealed, "I took D-Wade out to a bar and told him I wouldn't let us end up like me and Kobe.'' Does Kobe take Andrew Bynum, the young Lakers center, out to his favorite watering hole and implore him not to let them end up like him and Shaq? No. That is not how he thinks. Yet L.A.'s crown jewel said he has recognized the importance of sharing the ball, the glory and the glare. The Lakers' success this season is critical to Bryant's own image. He is 28 years old and wants -- needs -- to reinvent himself. If this green Lakers team can enjoy any kind of meaningful success, it could well be his passport to redemption. "It's about us getting better, not me being a crutch for us as a team to rely on when we struggle,'' he said. "We've got to stick to the plan. "Sometimes, when we start going bad, I'm thinking, 'We've got to hunker down and do this together.' They're looking at me and saying, 'C'mon, get us 60.'''</div> Source
<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">They're looking at me and saying, 'C'mon, get us 60.'''</div> LOL. Excellent article, though. It's all true and nicely written. I wonder, will his role change on the team for the rest of his career now ? I mean, it's pretty logical that Phil will not say to Bryant that you have to score as much as you can anymore. I'm just hoping so fkin much that Bryant gets another ring before he leaves the league and gets the Finals MVP.
It is a great article and underlines a point I have been trying to make all season: No other player in the NBA has to change his style and focus as much as Bryant does... and then gets criticised for it. Even his fans don't seem to get it. I hear people asking him to shoot more or pass more or get people involved or take over the game. Easier said than done... especially when we are not privy to the instructions being meted out by the Phil.
I really enjoyed reading the article. One of the best I've read in awhile. Good to see MJ and Kobe keeping in touch.
<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">"Michael has told me before, 'You have all the tools. The mental part of how to elevate your teammates is the last piece you have to master,''' Bryant said. "I find [getting players involved] requires me to be more focused than usual. "When I'm scoring, I have a narrow, laser focus. I get totally lost in the rhythm of shooting. But when I'm facilitating, I have to take a step back and look at a much broader picture. I have to wait for things to develop, or make them develop. It takes patience.''</div> That's deep. <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">"Everyone says I changed my number to make more money,'' Kobe said. "Those people are forgetting I'm a Nike athlete. Adidas owns the NBA jerseys. That doesn't help me any.''</div> <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">You want to help Kobe? He needs to convince Kwame Brown to be more consistent and less concerned with criticism, so he told him to stop placing unrealistic expectations on himself. "I explained to him this isn't like it was for him in Washington,'' Bryant said. "Here, all the pressure falls on me. Nobody else.'' Here's what else Kobe needs: for big man Bynum to be a more imposing inside defensive presence. So Bryant suggested he pull some Hakeem Olajuwon films out of the archives and study how he blocked shots. Told him he'd be happy to watch with him. "I didn't even know I could do that,'' Bynum said. "Kobe has gone out of his way to help,'' teammate Smush Parker said. "He's trying. We've noticed.''</div> Again, that was deep. This article was good shape, thanks.
Kobe wants that rings so much. He does EVERYTHING he can atm. In helping team's chemistry, doing what PJax tells him to do, scoring, passing, playing D. Everything. I wonder, will they watch Hakeem's games together then ?;D Kobe used to watch many Lakers' games when he was little. He tried to follow Magic's moves etc. Hakeem could meet Bynum and give him some lessons in D.
Emagine Bynum being taught by both Kareem and Hakeem, and putting that training to use... You talk about a weapon...
<div class="quote_poster">Bahir Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">Emagine Bynum being taught by both Kareem and Hakeem, and putting that training to use... You talk about a weapon...</div>Too bad that Wilt is dead. He could taught Andrew how to score 100 !
In today's age, I don't think we'll ever see a big man score more than 60. It's just too hard, the game seems to be dominated by wingmen and the three point line.
It was a joke btw. Yeah, that Shaq's 63 point game back in Orlando was sick. I have it. When a bigman scores over 35 today, it's great. Especially for a Duncan, Shaq, Dwight, Yao-type player. It's not so hard for Dirk or other hot shooting PF's.
