How Steve Nash Will Impact Kobe Bryant's Role in L.A. Lakers Offense

It's no secret that Steve Nash was traded to the Los Angeles Lakers for a few mediocre and pointless draft picks, but the real story behind this is how he is going to coexist alongside Kobe Bryant, a man who has been the unquestioned focal point of the Lakers' offense ever since 2003.

Is Kobe Bryant willing to relinquish control of the ball to Nash? Would he be fine taking three or four fewer shots per game? Is he okay letting other guys on his team be the hero at the end of the game? And most of all, is he willing to share the limelight with another superstar for the first time since playing with Shaquille O'Neal? 

For the most part, it seems that Kobe is on board with the idea for now, but will that ring true for the remainder of the season, or will the Kobe of old rear his ugly head?

Assuming that Bryant and Nash are capable of playing alongside each other for the purpose of conversation, let's take a look at how the Lakers offense is going to look with Nash at the helm, specifically based on how Nash impacts Kobe.

Pick-and-Roll

While this may not deal with Kobe directly, it very well should be the new focal point of the Lakers' offense, which may be a bit difficult considering Mike Brown is a bit of a lackwit offensively compared to many of the other coaches in the league. This pretty much sums it up.

Steve Nash, even at his advanced age, was one of the best point guards in the league at creating off the pick-and-roll, according to Synergy Sports.

"

Steve Nash Impact: he created/scored 22.4 points per game on the pick and roll in 2012, 12th among TEAMS in increasingly PnR heavy NBA.

— mySynergySports (@mySynergySports) July 6, 2012"

Nash wasn't good with the pick-and-roll, he was amazing. Not only was he one of the best point guards in the league, he was better than most teams.

Where does this put Kobe? At the very least this creates spacing and loosens up the defense, giving Kobe some open shots, which he hasn't seen much of in the past year unless he creates the space himself.

Kobe Bryant, Shooter

Kobe has never been an amazing three-point shooter; he's always been adequate, and that's at his best.

He peaked in 2003 at 38 percent when defenses were forced to keep an eye on Shaq, but for the most part, Kobe has never been a consistent threat from deep.

However, Nash could change that.

Over the past three years, Kobe has been the primary ball-handler and offensive producer as evidenced by his enormous usage percentages, peaking at 35.7 percent last season. This was good enough to lead the league.

The only problem with that is that nearly 90 percent of Kobe's shots last year were jumpers, and that number inflated to 95 percent in clutch situations. In other words, Kobe shoots...a lot.

An absolute best example of what Nash is capable of doing with a player comes from 2005 when Joe Johnson was blossoming with the Suns.

As Nash had Amar'e Stoudemire to run the pick-and-roll with (occasionally along with Shawn Marion), Johnson was able to float along the perimeter and take advantage of collapsing defenses. If the roll to the rim was blocked, Nash would reverse the ball to Johnson, who would have a good chance of being open around the three-point line.

What did Johnson do that season? Oh, he made 177 of his 370 long bombs that year, shooting 48 percent from deep.

Is Kobe going to shoot 48 percent? I'd wager not, but he'll definitely do better than the 30 percent he shot last season.

Less Pressure

There is one key factor that Steve Nash will bring to the Lakers when it comes to Kobe Bryant. He's going to take pressure off the man.

When was the last time we saw a truly loose Kobe? It had to be back in 2005 when they had little chance of making the playoffs and No. 8 had to look at Slava Medvedenko's mug for half the season.

That wasn't a particularly enjoyable time for Lakers fans, but the fact that Kobe has had to be "on" for nearly a decade has to take its toll, doesn't it?

Pau Gasol took some of the pressure off him, and Andrew Bynum in more recent years, but neither of those guys will take pressure off Kobe on offense quite like Nash can.

It may not be outwardly visible, but if Kobe seems to be quicker at times and even bouncier, Nash coming to town could very well be given some credit.

At the very least, Nash is going to give the Lakers some headlines, which, you know, doesn't happen very often.