Is it good for the Lakers that Kobe is scoring 40 pts a night? He has done it three times in a row and the Lakers are 2-1 because of it. But his assist are going down from it, maybe they need a passer and another shooter, and Kobe would look like Michael Jordan.
Not really. Speaking from a similar situation, he would be better off scoring a casual 30+ points a night. Posting big numbers will not do anything but tired him out and make his teammates lazy. Don't get me wrong, posting numbers such as 40+ points is a major feat as far individualism goes, but team wise it's not that great. And with a not so strong supporting cast, team play will be the benefactor for this team success. As for you question in whole, if you have Kobe Bryant dominating the way he is right now, what will his teammate get out of it? In the next game they won't do anything but look to get Kobe the ball and eventually it will take its toll on Kobe, and quite frankly Kobe won't be this hot forever, and once he cools down, where does that put his teammates? Once Kobe does cool down, his teammates will now have to regain their rhythm and start taking things upon themselves instead of feeding Kobe the ball non-stop. And knowing Kobe he could be on this steak for another 6 games for crying out loud, and if he maintains this once he cools down it will be harder for his teammates to readjust themselves. A good example of posting big numbers while being beneficiary to the team was Allen Iverson performance not too long ago. While he had 40 points he managed to dish out 10 assists at the same time. So I think that played out well for both parties. But to be honest, other than that, those 50 point games he had were amazing nonetheless and I was rooting for him to score 50 but at the same time, deep down inside I know this was getting him real fatigued, and till this day I question on how well he would perform later on in the season. So if Kobe keeps this up, he could be in the same class.
Kobe could have 40 points and 12 assists, and it wouldn't matter. He could have 20 and 10...anything...but if he's the only one contributing offensively, then the Lakers are just going to give up in the 3rd and 4th and sit back and watch the show. No matter what Kobe does, the Lakers need to play. If they knew how to play off the ball better, they'd get more passes. But regardless of Kobe's assists, he'll always be considered selfish.
