With the Los Angeles Lakers not being a championship contender this season, one thing comes to mind for fans: Kobe Bryant’s journey to win his sixth championship. The Lakers aren’t expected to be good and as a by-product of this, complacency and a lack of motivation could occur with Kobe. But Lakers head coach Byron Scott says that’s the least of his worries for the five-time NBA champion.
"Scott isn’t worried about motivating Bryant.“I don’t think Kobe needs anybody to motivate him, because he has a pretty keen sense on what he wants to do and how it wants it done,” said Scott. “He has a one-track mind and that’s winning championships.”Scott continued, “I know what it takes to get there, just like he does. It’s a pretty easy sell when you’re talking to him about winning championships.”"
Scott is absolutely right.
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Not only does Kobe want to win that sixth championship, but he’s out to prove to the world that he’s still go tit. What is ‘it’ exactly? The it being that he’s still an elite player. After tearing his achilles the questions came in droves, wondering if Bryant could sustain his play after a big-time injury. Immediately, everyone looked to Dominique Wilkins who returned to form following his achilles injury. That’s what people hope for Bryant to do.
Unfortunately, last season wasn’t any indication he was headed in that direction though the sample size was miniscule. In the 6 games prior to a knee injury which ended his season, Bryant averaged 13.8 points and 42% shooting. He looked a few steps slower, couldn’t beat defenders to spots on offense, and was forced to play point guard due to the lost step, causing an increase in turnovers (averaged 5.7 turnovers per game).
No one knows what to expect next season from Kobe. Will he be good. Will he be average. But one thing we do know is that there may not be a more motivated player in the league right now.