Lakers News: Rounding Up Latest from Los Angeles on Kobe Bryant and More
Let’s call a spade a spade—the Los Angeles Lakers are one of the worst teams in the NBA, and the most interesting thing about their season will be tracking Kobe Bryant’s production and his pursuit of some of the top scorers in NBA history.
The only way for Bryant to catch Michael Jordan for the third-most career points is by shooting the ball, and he is doing just that at an astronomical level.
Bryant’s shot chart isn’t the only news to come out of Los Angeles early in the season. Read on to see the latest Lakers updates before they strive for their first win of the season on Sunday against the Charlotte Hornets.
Kobe Bryant Posting Historic Shot Attempt Numbers
Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders pointed out that Bryant is on pace to take a ridiculous amount of shots this season:
Considering the Lakers are not going to make the playoffs and Bryant is less than 500 points behind Jordan for third on the all-time scoring list, there may be some motivation to keep chucking. Plus, it’s not as if Bryant is taking shots away from All-NBA caliber teammates.
It should come as no surprise that Bryant is leading the league with 27.6 points a game, but he is only shooting 40.2 percent from the field. Ideally, the efficiency numbers will improve when we have a more substantive sample size because it is difficult to win when your star player shoots a low percentage.
This is nothing new for Bryant, who is the NBA’s active leader with 24,496 field-goal attempts and has led the league in shots in six different seasons.
Coach Byron Scott seemed to put the onus on Bryant’s teammates to be more aggressive, via Baxter Holmes of ESPN Los Angeles:
"I think there was a timeout last game where I pointed at Kobe and I said, 'I know how great this guy is, but you guys have got to play basketball. You can't look at him every single time and try to give him the ball. You've got to take shots that are there. You can't pass up shots.'
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They can't be afraid to fail. That's the biggest thing. You've just got to be able to go out there and play.
It may be easier said than done when you are playing with a dynamic talent like Bryant, but if the rest of the Lakers want more shots, they should be actively looking for them.
Kobe Bryant’s Contract Worth It?
Diamond Leung of the Bay Area News Group noted that one Lakers legend believes Bryant is worth all the money the Lakers are paying him, even at this stage of his career:
Bryant received a two-year, $48.5 million contract extension from the Lakers in November of 2013.
It is hard to argue with Jerry West’s notion that Bryant has earned every penny of that deal. Yes, $48.5 million is too much for the 36-year-old Bryant if you look at him just through the prism of the 2014-15 and 2015-16 seasons, but he has been a critical component of five championships in Los Angeles and will go down as one of the greatest players on a historically excellent franchise.
That has to be worth something, even if it is financially hampering some of the rebuilding efforts.
Steve Nash Hits the Driving Range
Mike Bresnahan of the Los Angeles Times provided an update on Steve Nash that Lakers fans may not want to hear:
"Steve Nash posted to his Instagram account a brief video of himself whacking a golf ball at a driving range. People cheered in the background because he appeared to hit it a solid distance.
Nash, 40, was ruled out for the season last month because of recurring back problems. Fans weren’t overly kind in responding on his Instagram page.
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While hitting a golf ball at a driving range is exceedingly easier to do than playing in an NBA game, especially if you are injured, there are legitimate questions about whether Nash should be with the team as he recovers from his back problems. If nothing else, Nash could serve as a mentor for some of the younger players and help Jeremy Lin settle into the point guard role.
The reaction of the fans seems to indicate that they feel the same way.
By the end of the season, Nash will only have 65 games in a Lakers uniform under his belt in three years.
That wasn’t exactly what Los Angeles signed up for when it landed the former MVP.
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