Which LA Lakers Point Guard Should Kobe Bryant Play with the Most?

The 2013-14 Los Angeles Lakers have a three-headed monster at point guard. As a result, one can only speculate which one of them will be best suited to play alongside Kobe Bryant when he returns from his horrific Achilles tear.

The five-time champion has played with Jordan Farmar, Steve Blake and Steve Nash previously in his career, and each combination has affected the Purple and Gold’s overall play.

It’s worth noting that Bryant was paired with these individuals under different coaching staffs, which had an impact on the Lakers’ results as well.

We will look at previous performances with Bryant and these floor generals. From there, we will try to establish with which point guard the two-time NBA Finals MVP should play the most.

Jordan Farmar

Jordan Farmar was a member of the Los Angeles Lakers from 2006-07 to 2009-10 under Phil Jackson. Those teams were consistently among the league’s top 10 offenses by virtue of Jackson’s famed triangle offense.

The system relied on reads and reactions based on the way defenders are operating on the floor. For instance, if a player is overplaying the man on the wing, the triangle offense might call for the big man to run into the high post for a catch while the wing player cuts backdoor. This will prompt a quick pass from the free-throw area for a score and finish.

Watch below as Pau Gasol executed this with Kobe Bryant, except they did this from the low-post area:

This is pertinent when discussing Farmar’s pairing with Bryant because the triple-post system does not require a true point guard. The philosophy is based on the adjustments of all five players on the floor as opposed to the playmaking skills of a floor general.

Consequently, Bryant and Farmar had their fair share of one-on-one opportunities under Jackson and capitalized off them. Farmar was excellent at pushing the ball in transition and attacking the lane coming off ball screens.

For his part, Bryant was a threat from everywhere on the court. He benefited from the early offense his backcourt partner generated.

During their time together, they consistently produced over 105 points per 100 possessions based on lineup data obtained from NBA.com.

That figure would place the Lakers among the league’s top 10 offenses today. Clearly the tandem had a good formula given that they outscored opponents by nearly 10 points per 100 possessions.

Keep in mind, though, that Bryant was a superior defender during that stretch and was not coming off Achilles surgery. His defense has slipped over the years. Furthermore, his return from injury probably means that his game will take a slight step back, at least in the early going.

The Bryant-Farmar partnership has always been predicated on the former league MVP’s ability to dissect defenses within the scope of the triangle offense. In his return, he will likely be rusty and struggle with orchestrating the offense.

Given that Farmar is a scorer more than a setup man, he probably is not the ideal candidate to play with Bryant in Mike D’Antoni’s offense.

The spread pick-and-roll favors finding the open man, which will probably not be Bryant.

Teams have spent years devoting all of their attention to the perennial All-Star. That is not about to change. The Lakers’ all-time leading scorer will need someone to create high-percentage looks for him and his teammates in the early going for Los Angeles to be successful.

Farmar is not the guy best suited for this role.

Steve Blake

Steve Blake has played with Kobe Bryant through three different coaching regimes. Consequently, his role has evolved during his time in Los Angeles.

Blake joined the franchise prior to the start of the 2010-11 campaign as the team’s backup point guard.

He arrived in Phil Jackson’s last season. Thus, he ran the triangle offense. He was tasked with minimal ball-handling duties in the system. He was asked to play in concert with his teammates and find shots whenever the situation called for it.

Blake struggled in his first year shooting the ball with the Lakers, but it barely mattered. When on the floor with Bryant, the Lakers scored a staggering 112.2 points per 100 possessions.

To be fair, some of those 525 minutes in which he shared the court with Bryant occurred with Lamar Odom and Pau Gasol flanking them. But still, the offense produced great results.

In the ensuing campaign under Mike Brown, the tandem took a step back.

Blake was responsible for getting the team into the offense and creating more plays than he had in the previous season. His minutes and usage rates both increased, but the Lakers were no longer a juggernaut.

Bryant assumed more playmaking responsibilities on top of his usual scoring burden and saw his defense slip. The pair still functioned well enough to tread water, but that had more to do with Bryant’s individual brilliance.

In 2012-13, Blake’s shooting from the field improved under Mike D’Antoni, and so did his minutes. Granted, the increased playing time occurred because Steve Nash spent parts of the season injured. Nonetheless, Blake’s job expanded. Even when playing with Bryant, the coaching staff required that he look for his shots and create for others.

His backcourt partner essentially ran the offense, but Blake was the team’s secondary ball-handler on the floor and attacked defenders when the ball came his way. Watch below:

In addition, he did a good job of getting the Lakers into their sets and allowing Bryant to go to work.

He provided spacing with his long-range shooting and developed a good synergy with the superstar. The Lakers scored 107.5 points per 100 possessions in the 698 minutes the duo shared together in 2012-13.

However, that might not be sustainable.

Bryant played at what looked like the peak of his powers at times last season. He was simply sensational in his first season under D’Antoni considering the workload that was dropped on his shoulders.

Still, his defense took a huge hit. Bryant basically spent 2012-13 on the other side of the ball on cruise control. Grantland’s Zach Lowe offered poignant observations on the topic:

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Bryant, as the whole Internet (including this corner of it) has noted repeatedly, has been an irresponsible off-ball defender all season. He gambles out of scheme whenever he feels like it, often turning his back completely to his man, and several of Washington’s 11 3s during the Lakers’ home loss to the Wiz on Friday were the direct result of Bryant deciding he didn’t want to play team defense any longer.

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With Blake alongside Bryant, the Lakers defended at a bottom-five rate. In other words, they nullified whatever offensive advantage they gained with this backcourt.

Going forward, this is problematic. Bryant will probably not perform at peak level in 2013-14. Therefore, pairing him with Blake will not be ideal.

The pair was great in terms of point production, but that will probably not be the case in D’Antoni’s second season in L.A., at least not immediately when Bryant returns to the lineup.

Given that this two-man group was a train wreck defensively and that the offense will take a step back, it would be imprudent to have them share the floor for long stretches.

Steve Nash

Steve Nash has struggled early in the 2013-14 campaign because of age, injuries and confidence issues. Because of his early-season issues, Nash has gone out of his way to praise one of the point guards on the roster, as Bleacher Report’s Kevin Ding chronicled:

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"Hopefully I can play at a better rate at some point in the near future," Nash said. Then he added the following without any reporter solicitation: "But also you’re going to see Jordan really come alive and play well more consistently and give us a real player who can help the team."

"

Nash is quick to speak highly of his teammates. It’s as if he cannot turn off the true point guard switch he possesses.

That makes him the best candidate to play with Kobe Bryant.

In Season 1 with Bryant, the two-time league MVP adjusted masterfully, curtailing his game to the benefit of his backcourt partner (his usage rate declined from 21.4 to 19.6). Nash directed the offense and fed his 2-guard when appropriate for easy scores. He then took a backseat when the coaching staff called for it.

Bryant spent portions of the 2012-13 campaign operating as the Lakers’ point man, which forced Nash to become the team’s designated spot-up shooter. He was lethal, as evidenced by his 49.7 percent shooting, which made double-teaming Bryant a difficult proposition.

What’s more, Nash easily vacillated between setup man and shooter depending on Bryant’s wants. Indeed, despite having a down year, the Canadian still averaged 14.1 points and 7.4 assists per 36 minutes in his first year as a Laker.

What differentiates Nash from both Jordan Farmar and Steve Blake is his proficiency when shooting the ball. He is deadly in spot-up situations, but he also does a good job of converting shots he creates for himself off the dribble.

The Lakers scored at a top-10 rate when Nash and Bryant shared the floor together. One has to believe they will come close to matching that when they play together again.

Bryant will likely be limited early on. Luckily for the team, Nash will carry him through these stretches until he regains his form. The Lakers will probably struggle defensively, but this backcourt tandem has proved to be the stingiest one under D’Antoni.

Nash is the best option at point guard for the Lakers when Bryant finally rejoins the team, and really, that should not come as much of a surprise.

Statistical support provided by NBA.com.