Kobe Mentoring Bynum

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'>Bryant's teammates respect what he says because Bryant puts in the time to understand the nuances of the game--and that leads us straight to the leadership that Bryant demonstrated before the game. It was no accident that Bynum blocked O'Neal's shot twice in rapid succession; Bynum explained after the game, <span style="font-weight: bold;">"Working with Kobe before the game, he told me how to play Jermaine; he likes to go to his right shoulder a lot and then he spins back. I was just trying to be ready to bother his shot and I got a couple of them."</span> Some people might assume that a shooting guard can't help a post player's development but clearly this is not true, at least in Bryant's case. This kind of leadership may not earn any p.r. points--unless the media chooses to report it--but it builds team chemistry and helps to win games.

When Bryant emerged from the training room for his postgame standup, I mentioned what Bynum had said and asked Bryant to describe his mentoring relationship with the young center. Bryant replied, "It's just trying to help us win a ball game. <span style="font-weight: bold;">He's very bright, so the information that I pass on to him he can quickly process, register and then go out and execute it. He did a great job of it tonight. I just try to continue to guide him. He has a lot of promise and I am trying to help him along as much as I can."</span> Later, Bryant said of Bynum, "He's very competitive. He's quiet but he has a lot of fire inside. When he has matchups like this (against former All-Star O'Neal) or matchups with Yao Ming, he really steps forward and takes the challenge personally and I like to see that. I take a lot of pride in my defense. I've spent many nights studying players, so when he has a big matchup against Jermaine--a person who I've known since I was 16--<span style="font-weight: bold;">I have to help him out as much as I can and pass along the little nuances about defense and how he should view playing certain players so he is not just playing with his physical ability but he's using his head as well.</span>"

As the other reporters drifted away to file their stories, I asked Bryant this follow-up: "At one point, you were in Andrew's position on the team--you were the young guy out of high school on a veteran team and now this is almost a role reversal. What did you learn from your experience of being the young player on a veteran team that helps you know what to say, when to say it and how to say it to Andrew? <span style="font-weight: bold;">It's not just giving the right information; how you present it to him affects how open he will be, as a young person, to receiving it."</span> Bryant answered, <span style="font-weight: bold;">"I understand how to communicate to him a little bit more because I was in that position and a lot of times I felt like people really talked down to me, you know what I mean? 'This kid this' and 'this kid that,' that sort of thing, and it just rubbed me the wrong way. So, from my experience of going through that I understand now that I don't want to put him in that position. I want him to feel like he can come in and contribute, that he is valued on this ball club and that all I am trying to do is help him out to be the best that he can be."</span>

I then asked Bryant, "Do you give him advice about how to relate to other players, from your own experience as a young player that maybe you did things, not intentionally, that rubbed veterans the wrong way in some sense?"

Bryant replied, "It's funny, because when I came into the league the age range was completely different. If I came into the league nowadays out of high school I never would have had that problem (because there would be plenty of other young players to interact with). People don't understand that's how young kids behave. This team is different (than the Lakers team that Kobe first joined). <span style="font-weight: bold;">We have a lot of young guys here and also I'm here to help him out a lot. We bring him into the group; if we go out to dinner or whatever we do we include him in it and that is part of it.</span>"

Next, I asked, "Do you feel like you weren't included as much when you were a young player? Was that partially because the age difference was much greater?"

Bryant answered, "It's all about age difference. Those guys were 28, 29, 30 years old, married--and I was 17, 18 years old, couldn't go anywhere. <span style="font-weight: bold;">A lot of times I felt like I was a burden to a lot of guys and they didn't want to deal with that burden. I don't want Andrew to feel that way.</span>"</p>

During Phil Jackson's pregame standup, I asked him, "In a way, the kind of team that you have now is almost the opposite of the team that you had when you first came to L.A. Back then, you had a veteran center and a young guard coming straight out of high school; now you have a veteran guard and a young center who you are trying to mold into a top player. What did you learn from the earlier experience of coaching the veteran Shaq and the young Kobe that you apply coaching an almost reverse situation now?"

Jackson replied, "Andrew was such an inexperienced player when he came here that everything is just a learning experience for him. Last year was an opportunity for him to play a lot because of the unfortunate situation of our two centers being injured--he was forced into the action, but that gave him a lot of experience and it gave him a lot of opportunities to find out what it is all about. He has worked hard in the offseason to help himself out, to get stronger and to be a better conditioned player. <span style="font-weight: bold;">Our players who are around him are very encouraging and very supportive of him. I think that both Kobe and Derek Fisher talk to him a lot about his game and try to help him out a lot. Players look for him because he is a big advantage for us inside.</span>"</div></p>

Source: 20 Second Timeout Blog</p>

Awesome insight to the relationship Kobe is beginning to develop with Bynum. This is exactly the type of leadership Kobe needed to embrace to take this young team to the next level. I think a huge part of it has been the presence of Derek Fisher.</p>

 

Amazing how these two have bonded. If it continues and Kobe continues mentoring him, 15-18 PPG from Bynum is definitely not out of reach...along with the 10 boards.</p>