Lakers News: Breaking Down Latest Kobe Bryant Details and Nick Young's Struggles
It is that type of downtrodden season in Los Angeles when what constitutes news is how tired Kobe Bryant is and whether or not players slack in practice.
At 12-26, the Lakers might want to show some fight before their number of games below .500 flirts with Bryant's age (36).
Not that any of this is a surprise. Mitch Kupchak and the front office took a fresh approach for the franchise this year: rebuilding—like any normal team does.
The staff has its eyes set on the next batch of free agents and beyond while nurturing somewhat of a young core.
In the meantime, the world gets to watch just how bad it can get as coach Bryon Scott grinds down an aging Bryant and a young core learns to play together.
Kobe Update Watch
Bryant is on a hiatus. From what simply boils down to, well, Father Time.
No big deal, right? Even the unflappable Tim Duncan takes off regular-season games. The difference, of course, being that his San Antonio Spurs qualify for the postseason in the process and he comes out fresh.
Bryant, creaky knees and all, not so much.
There is a glimmer of hope in Los Angeles that things will get back to normal soon, as the Lakers noted on Twitter that Bryant might make his return against the Miami Heat on Tuesday:
Of course, the end game is not some push to get back to .500. It is not even a push to help along the rest of the roster. Rather, it appears to be a hope that Bryant can then suit up two days later against LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers on a Thursday showcase.
Normal is what the Lakers need, though. Those aforementioned creaky knees still demand double teams and respect.
As Paul Pierce recently penned in The Players' Tribune, Bryant still has something very dangerous—his mind:
"Kobe has the mentality of a basketball serial killer. He’s going to come at you every single way possible and he’s not going to let up. His mentality—his killer instinct—is what separates him from the other guys on this list, because once Kobe knows he has you, he’s going to keep attacking you. He’ll throw you down, beat you up and even when you’re knocked out, he’ll keep hitting you.
"
Bryant is not the threat he once was. Look at the numbers: averages of 23.0 points, 5.6 rebounds and 5.3 assists on 36 percent shooting.
The heart is there when he takes the court, though. At the very least, Scott seems ready to change his approach to Bryant's playing time, which might mean more of him this season than previously thought.
For a team with 12 wins in January, that's something.
A Serious Nick Young
Nick Young is a critical stepping stone in the Lakers rebuild.
Scott just wants him to act like it.
This applies on the real and practice court, too. As Mark Medina of the Los Angeles Daily News captures, Scott wants more seriousness from his star forward in practice:
During actual games, Scott wants the man formerly known as "Swaggy P" to not beat himself up and focus on other areas, per Medina:
"He has to be able to do other things on the court. When his shot is not falling, you have to rebound. You have to do other things to get yourself involved. Every shot he misses is the end of the world right now to him. You have to get away from that and keep playing hard and do other things to help the team to get better.
"
Young does average just 14.3 points, 2.4 rebounds and 1.0 assists per game in 28 appearances, all down in comparison to last year when he held a bigger chunk of responsibility.
It's the 38 percent shooting from the field that should concern most. Just look at Young's numbers from the field in the early goings of January:
| vs. POR | 3-11 | .273 | 1-8 | 9 |
| vs. ORL | 2-13 | .154 | 0-6 | 9 |
| at LAC | 4-15 | .267 | 1-6 | 11 |
| at POR | 3-13 | .231 | 1-4 | 11 |
| vs. IND | 4-12 | .333 | 2-5 | 22 |
| vs. MEM | 5-10 | .500 | 1-3 | 14 |
Over the course of his last 15 appearances, Young has shot a 59-of-173 mark from the field.
Maybe it is mental. Perhaps Scott hits the nail on the head with the note about preparation.
If it is the latter, this is the sort of learning process a rebuilding team goes through. A season with no postseason hope makes it easy for players to go through the motions.
The key is for leaders such as Young to carry the torch of example. In the coming weeks, the results of changes, or lack thereof, will be painfully obvious.
All stats and info via ESPN.com unless otherwise specified.
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