The Weekside: It’s time for sad Kobe to pass the torch and teach

Watching Kobe Bryant so far this year has been depressing. He has been chucking up awful looks at an asinine rate, leading the young Los Angeles Lakers in shots, 3-point attempts, and usage rate.

He is using up nearly 30% of the team’s possessions despite shooting 32% on the year, never getting into a groove, and launching more than half of his attempts from 3-point range (34 of his 62 shots this year). When you have hit just 7-of-34 looks from deep, it’s time to stop taking them.

Not Kobe though. He’s got this.

At the beginning, seeing the struggle was a bit comical. Naturally, he is a legend of the game and someone I have relished watching for nearly two decades. And he is coming off multiple, major injuries. But the airballs and poor shot selection just seemed like small, funny quirks due to his overly obsessive need to succeed even while caked it rust.

I thought it would pass. But it just seems to be getting worse, and the Black Mamba, a nickname he gave himself due to the snake’s ability to strike with 99% accuracy, can barely hit the rim half the time.

(video via The Cauldron)

It’s starting to look like he really has lost it all.

And that’s just depressing. Kobe is one of the best scorers to ever play, with a dedication for the sport that few people in any walk of life have ever displayed for anything.

He has always been the shark from Jaws come to life, singularly focused on killing members of that cursed beachfront family.

Only every defender in the NBA was his family to torment and devour. He looks to be a great white without teeth anymore though. He’s just swimming around gumming at nothing while we all, at first, laughed and now sit here with silenced concern and wondering how we get him to sit down for an intervention.

Fortunately, the Lakers, now 0-5 on the year, have something good happening, too.

Julius Randle, who broke his leg as a rookie in his first game last year, looks phenomenal. Just watch what he has been doing in this early season.

While I feel like I keep saying this about every first- and second-year player in the league right now, Randle has true star potential.

He has a knack for getting the hoop, a hulking strength that allows him to move opponents around with ease, and an understanding of simply how to be an NBA player even though he could only watch from the sidelines last season. Already, he just belongs. The demeanor and way he carries himself is the best sign of that, but the fact that he is also averaging 18 and 11 per 36 minutes early in what is his first year, despite playing on a team that is a well-done garbage right now, is quite the encouraging numerical sign as well.

So this is the hope for Lakers fans and for all of use who want to remember Kobe’s last year fondly.

Kobe will have to soon see what the rest of us already can. He has already called himself the “200th best player in the league” and said “I suck.” Well, Kobe, both of those characterizations are generous right now. You may not be top 400, and suck isn’t strong enough language.

He isn’t just a scorer though. He has always been an underrated playmaker, and with legs that look tired five games into the year or simply gone forever, you hope he passes the torch and shows the young players, Randle especially, what the rest of this sport is about. He needs to teach Randle the little tricks to beat a defender with footwork. He needs to show him why fourth quarters are different. He can pass on wisdom about the hours, alone, in the gym it takes to hone your craft enough to win a title.

You had a great run, Kobe. One of the best.

But this is sad to watch, so please let’s gracefully move on to the final phase of your career, as a teacher, and give up on the notion that you’re a man-eating shark anymore.

Around the Association

Boston Celtics

Last night, Jae Crowder made the best shot of all time that didn’t count. He didn’t mean to, mind you, but that hardly matters when you bank in a baseball throw from 94 feet.

Maybe the Mets can sign him to play first base.

Chicago Bulls

President Barack Obama is a busy man. He probably doesn’t send many letters that he actually wrote himself, let alone those he wrote by hand. But he made an exception to send Scottie Pippen a card for his 50th birthday. Yes, Obama is a big Bulls fan, but this also is about how great Pippen was. In fact, if you liked Jordan more than Pippen in the 1990s I generally looked at you sideways.

So hopefully Obama’s recognition helps further cement his legacy as one of the best ever and probably the best wing defender in history. And hopefully rappers can stop saying things like “I’m Jordan, you Pippen” and thinking that it is remotely insulting.

Cleveland Cavaliers

In case there was any doubt, LeBron proved once and for all that is really is from Ohio by showing his preference for wearing a shirt without sleeves.

Detroit Pistons

The Pistons have started off the year well. They are 3-1 with the fifth-best defense in the NBA and Andre Drummond is an absolute monster who is leading the league with 19.5 (!!!) rebounds per game. In their one loss, however, Adam Mares saw something that Stan Van Gundy may have to look to counter more often.

The Pacers did an excellent job at times running a very high pick-and-roll set that pulled Drummond far out of the paint. And with shooters spread around the arc, the two-man game was able to exploit the extra space and make Detroit pay.

Golden State Warriors

Steph Curry scored 31 points in 32 minutes last night in a win over the Clippers and this actually hurt his point-per-minute rate somehow. His early-year exploits were absolutely unreal and him on a basketball court at this point feels more like a mushroom-fueled fever dream than a sporting event. Players who make a jump like he did last season (to the degree that such a thing has ever even happened before) don’t usually come back better. This is preposterous. Pre-pos-ter-ous, I say.

Based on what I’ve seen so far, if a guy with a time machine arrived at my house and told me that the Warriors will go 82-0 this year, I honestly wouldn’t even be particularly surprised. They are scoring 6 points more per 100 possessions than any other team so far this year and, other than a bit of slippage in the third quarter vs. L.A. last night, look like they can’t be beat.

Houston Rockets

Enjoy retirement, Goran Dragic. (via Slam)

Indiana Pacers

Here’s Paul George, looking like a JV player who was called up to the big-boy team and asked to check in by his coach for the first time. C’mon, man. You’re Paul George. People ask you to go into the game all the time. Look alive.

Los Angeles Clippers

Can Lance Stephenson work in Clipper-ville alongside guys like Chris Paul and Jamal Crawford who also need the ball to thrive? For at least one possession, the answer was a definitive, “Yup.”

Minnesota Timberwolves

Karl Anthony-Towns looks like the truth. He is destroying everyone to the point that undisputed basketball guru David Thorpe says he might have more upside than even Anthony Davis.

The scoring, the poise, the NBA-readiness all impress. But the play above, where he skillfully takes the ball as deep as he can before laying it off expertly to KG really helps show the full repertoire. This kid good.

New Orleans Pelicans

While the disappointing play of Anthony Davis, after injuries, has been the largest story out of NOLA so far, one encouraging sign has been Dante Cunningham’s ability to knock down 3s. Though hitting 4-of-10 in four games isn’t cause for celebration, he only attempted 10 triples total all last year. Rob Mahoney of Sports Illustrated wrote about Cunningham has tried to build a long-ball from what was already a good mid-range game this offseason and started the year “attempting more threes per minute than Joe Johnson, Gordon Hayward, Kawhi Leonard, and Jeff Teague.”

New York Knicks

The Knicks are still without a win and won’t be good this year. It’s the Knicks, so they may not be good this decade. But rookie big man Kristaps Porzingis has been a standout and Derek Fisher has him looking Just Wright out there on the court so far.

Orlando Magic

This has been a public service announcement: Do not use Google to search for the man we heretofore will always call Never Google.

Sacramento Kings

Rajon Rondo is an old vet now and while that is something we have known for awhile it is also something that makes us feel old.

San Antonio Spurs

Kawhi is a robot, Exhibit #381.

Portland Trail Blazers

It’s going to be a long season for Dame Lillard in Portland and taking a knee to the face from a giant, octopus-like 7-footer early in the year can’t help. (via Dan Devine)

Washington Wizards

Last night, we learned that John Wall is faster than Flash, Bradley Beal is ready to step in for Paul Pierce in the game-winner department, and the Spurs don’t even show emotion when losing on a last-second shot.

Dynamic 40-Point Dus

Kevin Durant scored 48 points while Russell Westbrook added 43 last Friday in a double OT win over the Orlando Magic.

Two teammates scoring 40 or more in game is rare, and this was only the third time such a feat has happened since 1996, when Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen each dropped 40+. Reggie Miller and Jalen Rose are the other duo to do so, combining for exactly 80 points in a playoff win during their run to the NBA Finals in 2000.

Let’s rank the boxscores from these three games.

3. Durant and Westbrook

The two combined for the most points of the three combos, with 91, but their shooting percentage overall was the worst at just 45.5% (32-for-66). Throw in the extra minutes in a double OT game (KD played nearly 54 minutes) and this is the “least impressive” of the three boxscores.

2. MJ and Scottie

MJ and Pippen combined for 88 points on just 55 shots. That’s highly efficient and both were water from 3-point range, hitting 7-for-11 from deep, and the line, making 17-of-20 foul shots. Throw in Mike’s 7 dimes, Pippen’s 10 boards and their combined 8 steals and this really illustrates just how unbeatable these guys were. Mike was the best scorer and most relentless competitor in the NBA. Pippen was the league’s most versatile player. And they were the best two wing defenders alive. Nice recipe for six titles.

1. Reggie and Jalen

The least accomplished pair — and the only one where both guys aren’t Hall of Famers (eventually in the case of the OKC’s guys) — did it best. Not only did they drop 80 points while shooting 65.9% (27-for-41) from the field, 66.7% (10-for-15) from deep, and 94.1% (16-for-17) from the line, but this was in a playoff game against a defense-first Sixers squad. As was typical, neither guy added much but points, but who cares when you’re shooting like Legolas?

Words With Friends

This week’s five must-read articles about the NBA. Excerpts here — click through to read the full piece.

1. How Kawhi Leonard locked up Carmelo Anthony
by Dan Devine, Ball Don’t Lie

Anthony credited the Spurs’ team defense for “loading up” to dampen his production — “They send you right down to Tim Duncan and hope you can make something happen,” he said after the game, according to Jeff McDonald of the San Antonio Express-News. For the bulk of their shared floor time, though, Leonard was not only the first line of defense against Anthony, but the only one San Antonio needed.

2. Trust The Process: 76ers rookie Jahlil Okafor impresses early
by Chris Stone, Upside & Motor

In just three games, Okafor has already impressed the league with his offensive game. He scored 26 points in his debut against Boston, the second most points by a center in their debut since 1963. While he struggled in a 4-for-12, 10 point performance against the Jazz, Okafor bounced back by hanging 24 points on Cleveland, the defending Eastern Conference champ, in his third outing … Hinkie’s team-building strategy with the Sixers has been the subject of much ire over the past few seasons, but the offensive potential that Okafor has shown over the first three games of the season should give Philadelphia fans some hope that they may indeed finally have their franchise superstar. Just remember to trust the process.

3. The Derrick Rose breakup with the Bulls has begun
by Brian Windhorst, ESPN

The Derrick Rose breakup with the Bulls has begun. I don’t know how long it’s going to last. I don’t know if it’s going to be complete. But you can sort of see it. The team and the franchise have moved on to a little bit of a certain extent. (excerpt via NBC)

4. Kevin Love on returning from injury, his first year with LeBron
by Rohan Nadkarni, Sport Illustrated

Last year I was in an apartment, this off-season I bought a house. When you get traded, you don’t even think about it. You just want to get on the court. Everything is going 100 miles per hour. Now I’m getting to know the guys on the team better. Even though my season ended after the fourth game of the first round, you a learn a lot sitting there. It was tough sitting there, but you learn a lot about yourself from a hunger standpoint.

5. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar on White Privilege, Politics, and Islam
by Robert Silverman, The Daily Beast

Despite an unreal 20-year NBA career in which he scored an NBA record 38,387 points, won six NBA titles and six Most Valuable Player awards, Abdul-Jabbar’s inherent shyness led many to “typecast him as the brooding black guy. I had to toe a certain line and not be too controversial or too much my own man,” Abdul-Jabbar says in the film, a lesson he learned from his father. “Dad never displayed any emotion,” he says. “It affected me my whole life, because I thought that was why people respected my dad.” At age 14, Abdul-Jabbar, then known as Lew Alcindor, was starting on Power Memorial High’s varsity team and was already such a colossal star that he’d made an appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show. They dropped their opening game and Abdul-Jabbar was crushed, bawling his eyes out in the locker room. “All the other guys on the team were looking at me like I just stepped off a spaceship,” he says. “From that point on, I always had my game face on. I never, ever gave away any emotional vulnerability to anybody from that point on until I retired.”

What to Watch For

The Bulls and Thunder square off tonight, and that’s not exactly what Chicago needs right now.

The team has a rookie head coach, Fred Hoiberg, and has been attracting unwanted headlines since the season started. Amid reports that he asked to come off the bench, Joakim Noah was quick to dispute such claims. ESPN reporter Brian Winhorst, albeit a bit vaguely, has claimed that the end of Derrick Rose’s days in his hometown are already being counted down. And Jimmy Butler said his team was soft during a loss to the Hornets in which he and his teammates surrendered 130 points.

With Tom Thibodeau gone, it is natural that the franchise’s hallmark defense would take a step back. But 130 points? In regulation? To the Hornets? On 52% shooting? Coming off an off day? That’s just not something anybody expected to see fro this squad.

Meanwhile, Oklahoma City, also run by a a first-year coach in Billy Donovan, is coming off two straight losses and won’t want to let that run to three. Even with the losses, the team is showing a potent offense, scoring at least 98 points in every game so far this year, and at least 112 in all three of its wins.

It’s only November 5.

Nothing can truly be grave this early in the season. But the Eastern Conference has no clear contenders after the Cleveland Cavaliers. Many thought the Bulls could gel around a new star in Butler and a healthy complement in Rose, and snatch the number-two seed on the way to showdown against their division rival in the Eastern Conference Finals.

That could still be.

The early chatter and trumped-up problems discussed early in every season for every team are often forgotten within a few weeks. This too may pass, and all.

But this isn’t exactly how the team hoped to start the season. A win over a title favorite on national television sure would help.