Los Angeles Lakers: Keep Firing Away, Kobe Bryant
By Marcus Bass
These days I find myself defending Los Angeles Lakers guard Kobe Bryant more often, and anyone who knows me personally understands that doesn’t come easy. However during these Lakers dark ages, there shouldn’t be anyone who cares enough to criticize Bryant and his eye sore number of shot attempts.
Relax, Angelenos, the Lakers will miss the playoffs once again, and there’s nothing that will happen this year that doesn’t result in a lottery pick come seasons end.
Bryant’s going out with a bang, only because he’s smart enough to have realized what many haven’t. This season is a complete wash and regardless as to whether Bryant takes three shots or 30, the Lakers losing fortune is inevitable.
More shots for Kobe doesn’t mean less for rookie Julius Randle. It hasn’t served as an impediment to Jordan Clarkson‘s play, and it’s highly unlikely the Lakers are interested in the development of Jeremy Lin or any other members of LA’s crew of expendables.
Chuck after chuck with subsequent brick after brick, the primary problem with Kobe’s shot selection and amount taken is it defies the concept of team basketball. It gives so-called hoops purists migraine headaches, resulting in these midnight madness marauders foregoing their fantasy hoops and YMCA recreation league games.
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And if there’s any fundamental basketball found on planet Earth, it’s located in your local YMCA, park or 24 Hour Fitness where on any given day you’ll find the infamous five-feet travel call.
Let me be the first to say so what. If Bryant’s rule of ridiculous shot attempts bothers all of you basketball aficionados that bad, my best advice is to simply grit your teeth and bear through it.
If you’re bothered that much this early while the Lakers are only 11 games into the regular season, there’s no way you’ll handle the remaining 71. You’ll be hard pressed to tune in to what’ll happen next season as well.
And if you believe Bryant has any remorse for even one of the shots he’s taken in his 19-year career, you’d be sorely mistaken. If there’s any passage out of the shooters basketball bible it’s to immediately forget your missed attempts. Great players know to fire away even in the face of a 1-of-100 shot attempt to make ratio.
An ideology that suggest accomplishing the all-time record for missed shots doesn’t bother Bryant in the slightest bit.
It shouldn’t either, and truth be told, as beauty is in the eye of the beholder, a record is only defined by those in possession of it. When John Havlicek previously set his record of 13,417 the overriding consensus at the time was that mark was a tribute to Havlicek’s endurance and professional tenure.
With Bryant’s track record in media and among teammates, it’s understandable why he wouldn’t be lent the same consideration. Perhaps we’re numb to Kobe’s cause. For one of the best guards ever in the league, you’d think a milestone would be massaged and tailored to fit his body of work.
Regardless as to whether Bryant’s shot hoisting is warranted or not, at the moment it doesn’t help nor hurt.
It’s a very bland situation for both Bryant and the Lakers as he’s returned from a number of injuries to prove he can still make a superstar’s level of contributions, while the Lakers front office has failed to surround him with enough help to maximize those contributions. Kobe played basketball the right way and it produced five championships.
Hasn’t he earned the ability to have some fun?
Keep firing away, Bean!
Next: NBA: Is Kobe Among The 25 Greatest Scorers of All-Time