Kobe Bryant said this week that he “freaking sucks”, but LeBron James says that the Black Mamba knows it’s not true.
The Los Angeles Lakers are in a rebuilding phase and are miles away from contention. Everyone knows it. They have a bright core of young talent to focus on in the form of Jordan Clarkson, Julius Randle and rookie point guard D’Angelo Russell, but they aren’t close to being a winning team yet. At 0-4, that’s blatantly obvious, and Kobe Bryant acknowledged this week that he’s a reason why.
In fact, Kobe said that “I’m the 200th best player in the league right now… I freaking suck”. It sounds like a big statement from the five-time NBA champion and Lakers legend, but right now it’s a pretty accurate assessment. His shot selection is poor and he insists on doing too much offensively instead of letting some of his younger teammates carry more of the burden.
However, to come to the defense of Kobe’s self criticism, LeBron James has made a comment on the matter. Jason Lloyd of the Akron Beacon Journal has reported what LeBron had to say about Kobe following the Cleveland Cavalier’s victory over the Philadelphia 76ers:
"“What I see is a challenge to himself,” James told me. “It has zero to do with his age. Zero. I think at one point in my career, in my 20s, I felt like I sucked. It’s all a personal challenge. I know him. He knows he don’t suck. C’mon man, it’s Kobe Bryant. But it’s a personal challenge to him. That’s all that is.”"
LeBron is right about the fact that this season is a personal challenge for Kobe. For the first time in his career, he can’t be the main man — at least in nearly the same way or to the same extent as he’s used to. Even when he was teammates with Shaquille O’Neal and they won three championships together, they were both alpha males. It led to them having countless chemistry issues, but at least for the sake of Kobe and his trigger happy ways, he was still able to get plenty of shots up and take over games.
That can’t be the case anymore, though. Over the last couple of seasons he’s dealt with the aftermath of an Achilles injury and shoulder surgery, all as he gradually approaches turning 40. Now, at 37, he’s still insisting on taking too many shots. Not just open looks, but long contested twos, turnaround jumpers, and a host of three pointers.
After four games, Kobe is shooting a mere 32.3 percent from the floor and only 20.6 percent from three point range. He’s averaging 15.5 field goal attempts in 28 minutes a night, and even worse is the fact that he’s hoisting up 10.9 three pointers per 36 minutes. He’s getting greedy and his terrible efficiency is hurting his team.
There’s just no way he can be the player to carry his Lakers anymore, even if it’s painful for him to accept that as he adjusts to their youth movement going forward.
Kobe Bryant knows he can improve and there’s no reason he has to play like this all season, but he needs to dramatically alter his shot selection and take more of a backseat if that’s going to be the case.