Kobe Bryant is suffering through a miserable season, one that many predicted for the 37-year-old superstar. He’s shooting a career-worst 33 percent from the field, and a woeful 23 percent from 3-point range. He’s also complained that he can barely walk after games.
“If something doesn’t change, this is it for me,” Bryant told Mike Krzyzewski on Sirius radio (via CBS). Bryant has recognized his fading skills, and also told Coach K that his focus now is on helping the Lakers’ young core of D’Angelo Russell, Jordan Clarkson, and Julius Randle to develop.
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The thing is…can Bryant actually help them? Here are three reasons why the “Black Mamba” may not be such a wonderful tutor.
He Was Never A “Team Player”
That sounds rough, but it’s only meant as half a swipe. Bryant has been an alpha dog since he entered the league, and his talent has always been scoring at will. He modeled his game after Michael Jordan, and came as close as anyone really can to MJ. That meant a lot more shooting than passing.
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Now he’s trying to mentor Russell and Clarkson, two talented players, but two point guards. Both guys are really combo guards, and Bryant has always been strictly a shooting guard. He’s never been asked to be a team’s primary distributor, and he spent his prime in Phil Jackson’s triangle offense.
As for Randle, he’s a power forward, so Kobe can help him out with post moves? Beyond teaching the youngsters how to outwork the opposition, Bryant just doesn’t seem like a fit in that role.
Kobe Has Low Tolerance For Growing Pains
Bryant, like Jordan, is notoriously hard on teammates who aren’t meeting his expectations. Ask Nick Young, whom Kobe eviscerated in a practice because he dared to talk a smidge of trash.
“[S]omebody said something to Kobe … [and four threes] later, you can see the score now,” rookie Larry Nance Jr. said after the practice. “I think we’ve learned from that mistake: Don’t poke the bear.”
If you need more proof, just check out how Kobe dealt with Jeremy Lin last season.
Russell and Clarkson are bound to make many mistakes as young guards in the Western Conference, and as much as Kobe wants to be their teacher, he’s too much of a competitor to let them learn on the fly while he takes a backseat. He will demand crunch time minutes and try his hardest to win these games. And it will stunt the young guns’ growth.
His Contract Screams “Do As I Say, Not As I Do”
One of the most important things veterans do is sacrifice for the sake of winning. Tim Duncan, Dirk Nowitzki, and even lesser vets like David West all have something in common – they took less to keep the team afloat.
Duncan has allowed Kawhi Leonard to become the man in San Antonio while Nowitzki is making less than he should to accommodate veteran signings. Kobe, on the other hand, signed an obscene two-year, $48.5 million deal that crippled the Lakers’ cap room. They could not afford to bring in the talent necessary to survive with Bryant aging, because he refused to believe he was finished as a leading man.
He gets it now, and is pledging to help the kids, but it’s too late. The team stinks, and those young players’ first NBA experience is a losing one. Bryant has a lot to do with that, and the young guns are paying attention. The Spurs have a culture of sacrifice, but who knows how the Lakers will instill one with their “leader” selfishly soaking up cap space as a thank you for past performance.
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