Kobe, Lakers Success Down the Stretch Hinges on Confidence

With a confident Kobe Bryant leading the charge, the Los Angeles Lakers might just enough have enough time left to cash in on the overwhelming potential that greeted the franchise on opening night.

If they can channel the confidence of their MVP leader, the Lakers can contend with any potential playoff foe. That tantalizing potential from this roster hasn't gone anywhere. And neither has the overwhelming, star-studded talent.

As the stage grows, so too does Bryant's bravado. It's what makes him such a lethal late-game assassin, capable of extending or finishing a series with a transcendent performance.

Borderline Arrogance

 They were crowned champions of the Western Conference long before the 2012-13 NBA season got started. When general manager Mitch Kupchak returned from his offseason free-agent hunt carrying Dwight Howard and Steve Nash like a pair of trophy bucks, basketball analysts had seen all that they needed to see.

The conference race was theirs. Starting forward Metta World Peace raised the bar, telling ESPN Radio's Max Kellerman and Marcellus Wiley (transcribed by Chris Fedor of SportsRadioInterviews.com) that the team had set its sights on a would-be record 73 regular-season wins.

Regardless of the coach (then Mike Brown), the system (Brown's take on the Princeton offense) and the supporting cast (a collection largely compiled of past-their-prime veterans and young, unproven players), there was no way a team featuring Howard, Nash, Bryant and Pau Gasol could ever fail, right?

Well, not exactly.

It took all of five regular-season games (four of them Lakers losses) for Brown to convince Lakers management that he wasn't the right man for the job. That fleeting experiment with the Princeton offense followed him out the door.

With a rash of injuries to key rotation players (including Howard, Nash and Gasol), the limitations of the supporting cast became readily apparent.

The Lakers limped to an 8-8 mark through the month of November. By New Year's Day, the team was still mired in mediocrity carrying a 15-15 record into 2013.

Things only grew worse from there. With 16 games in January—16 chances to turn the season around—the team managed a measly five victories.

Once again, analysts had seen all they needed to see. Doomsday predictions rained down as journalists channeled their inner cult leaders.

The Lakers were too old to compete. The front office had hired the wrong coach (Mike D'Antoni). The personalities would never mesh.

They looked to be about a week away from seeing the star-studded Staples Center faithful replaced by a collection of anonymous fans with bags on their heads.

Shaken, but Not Defeated

But not everyone was willing to give up hope. Their captain lived up to his title, with Bryant refusing to vacate his post while the ship struggled to stay afloat.

His confident approach on the offensive end saw tremendous individual achievements, but came without team success. He poured in 29.2 points per game on 46.5 percent shooting from the field through 42 games, but the Lakers had just 17 victories to show for his efforts.

And that's when his confidence extended to his teammates, perhaps salvaging the season in the process. Even though he had a permanent green light in D'Antoni's offense, he understood the importance of entrusting more offensive responsibility on his teammates.

The team's Jan. 25 win over the Utah Jazz saw Bryant dish out 14 assists, sparking a stretch of five games where the "Mamba" handed out at least eight helpers per game. The Lakers won four of those five games by an average of 10.8 points.

Bryant knew his team couldn't survive without his scoring, but the message had been sent. He trusted his teammates, showed confidence that they'd be able to take this team where they needed to go.

In the 15 games since that stretch, the Lakers have rattled off 10 wins. Bryant hasn't abandoned his passing ways (6.4 assists per game), but he has sensed when his teammates have needed him to pick up the scoring slack (five games with 30-plus points, via basketball-reference.com).

He can see where this franchise could be headed. And in his eyes, they could be on the verge of greatness.

A Confident Guarantee

"It's not a question of if we make the playoffs," he said after the team's victory over the Phoenix Suns on Feb. 12 (according to Jack McCallum of Sports Illustrated). "We will. And when we get there, I have no fear of anyone -- Oklahoma City, San Antonio, Denver ... whoever. I have zero nervousness about that."

Considering the team still stood 3.5 games back of the eighth seed Houston Rockets and held a 2-6 record against the three conference powers that Bryant listed, it was quite the bold statement.

But it was one that his teammates desperately needed to hear. His teammates quickly echoed his sentiment, with Nash, Howard and D'Antoni all offering their appreciation of Bryant's comments (via Arash Markazi of ESPNLosAngeles.com).

Nash put Bryant's words in the best perspective, calling them a challenge. "In a way, he's put it out for us to go get now," Nash said.

The Lakers' struggles were beyond X's and O's. The players looked fatigued not from D'Antoni's up-tempo system, but from facing a never-ending line of questions of why things had played out this way.

They needed some tangible gains in terms of the conference standings. But more than that they needed an intangible bond built from the process of coming together in pursuit of a common goal.

When the Lakers rallied from a 25-point deficit in their 108-102 road win over the New Orleans Hornets on Mar. 6, they looked like they finally had their swagger back. "We're a confident bunch," Bryant said after the game (via Dave McMenamin of ESPNLosAngeles.com). "They take their queue from me, obviously in that department. I'm just not worried about who we might face [in the playoffs]."

A Champion's Belief

Bryant knows what it takes to raise the Larry O'Brien Trophy, evidenced by his handful of glistening championship rings. It's a fact not lost on his new teammates, with both Nash and Howard seeing past championship hopes dashed by Bryant's Lakers of yesteryear.

He also knows that it's not a journey he'll be able to make alone. He needs Nash to stay on the attack, Howard to return to being the best defensive player in the game regardless of his touches.

His teammates need to know that Bryant trusts them to make the right plays. But more than that, they need to trust their own abilities above all else.

Whether that means extending a first-round series or finishing off a Conference finals depends on the team's ability instill that same sense of self-belief that the two-time finals MVP has flashed on the game's biggest platform.

Even with their deficit trimmed to just 1.5 games for the eighth and final playoff spot, a postseason charge remains a daunting task. Six wins in their past eight games have helped, but there's no getting around the fact that they still don't control their own destiny.

The Lakers can ill afford even the slightest wavering in their confidence.

But that's not likely to happen. Bryant simply won't allow it.