With Kobe Bryant out Indefinitely, Lakers Can Only Embrace the Swaggy P Show
It'd be easy to consider Kobe Bryant's prolonged absence detrimental to the Los Angeles Lakers' entertainment value, but the simultaneously delightful and enraging stylings of Nick Young should help fill the Purple and Gold's Mamba-shaped void throughout the season's second stanza.
According to the Lakers, Bryant will go under the knife Wednesday to repair his torn rotator cuff:
So with Kobe's participation the rest of the way out of the question, per ESPN.com's Ramona Shelburne, the door has opened for another high-volume, low-efficiency connoisseur to procure buckets for the stumbling Lakers.
According to ESPN.com's Baxter Holmes, that's exactly what Young plans on doing:
Although Bryant's and Young's personalities couldn't be on more opposite ends of the spectrum, they share a bit of interesting statistical space.
Not only are Bryant and Young shooting an identical 37.3 percent from the field, but they're two of five players jacking at least 10 shots per game while knocking down fewer than 38 percent of their total looks, according to Basketball-Reference.com.
And while Young has bested Bryant by roughly 10 percent when it comes to three-point conversion rates, Swaggy P has been horribly inefficient inside of the arc, according to Grantland's Zach Lowe:
A mid-range nightmare, Young's been incapable of developing any semblance of consistency in his off-the-dribble endeavors.
His shot chart, courtesy of NBA.com, provides some alarming visual confirmation:
Diving deeper, Young's drained a respectable 45.5 percent of his shots off of zero dribbles, including 41.7 percent of his triples, according to SportVU player-tracking data.
However, once the rock hits the hardwood, results become problematic for an offense that's posted an identical offensive rating (101.6) with Young on and off the floor.
| 0 | 27.2% | 45.5 |
| 1 | 16.0% | 38.5 |
| 2 | 13.8% | 33.9 |
| 3-6 | 29.4% | 34.5 |
| 7+ | 12.8% | 30.8 |
Young also possesses a beguiling selfishness that's resulted in the Lakers' assist percentage dipping by more than 10 percent when he's on the floor.
For all of the narrative-driven flack Bryant receives regarding his reluctance to pass, Young's been exponentially less willing to share the rock, according to ESPN Insider's Tom Haberstroh:
Granted, Young's status as a second-unit spark plug has granted him a license to bomb away. But now that his role is set to expand, Young's shot/pass distribution will be viewed under a more intense microscope.
The Swaggy P experience also comes laced with a hefty dose of unpredictability.
Appearing in just eight first-half minutes during the Lakers' 99-87 loss to the Houston Rockets Sunday night, Young was benched by head coach Byron Scott for his lackadaisical approach on the defensive end.
"The message I was sending [Sunday] night was, 'You basically didn’t look like you wanted to play," Scott said, according to Holmes. "'You weren't defending. You were just standing around.' He was throwing the ball all over the place. So I chose not to play him, because if you look disinterested, with body language and things like that, to me you don’t want to play."
Track Young's movement away from Corey Brewer on the following first-quarter possession, and you'll see exactly what Scott was referring to:
It's hardly a secret Young encounters defensive impairment on a regular basis, though. Through 45 games, the Lakers defense has been 6.6 points better per 100 possessions with Young off the floor.
However, his infectious personality has made those shortcomings easier to gloss over, as Nate Jones explained:
"@ZachLowe_NBA Funny thing is how popular Nick is here in LA. Lovable people’s champ personality masking how bad he is.
— Nate Jones (@JonesOnTheNBA) January 26, 2015"
As Sports Illustrated's Lee Jenkins so eloquently stated, "Nobody is better suited to lead—or at least distract—the Lakers through an unfamiliar existential crisis than their sixth man and second-leading scorer."
And therein lies the beauty of Young's reckless and capricious approach.
Los Angeles has plunged into murky statistical waters across the board alongside the Minnesota Timberwolves, New York Knicks and Philadelphia 76ers. But if they're going to spiral into a cycle of futility, at least Young will be there to provide comic relief and a bit of spectacle along the way.
"It’s tough, but we’ve got to go out there and still fight," Young said, per Holmes. "We’ve still got to give fans a show. It’s a chance for other people to step up now. There’s a lot of players with contracts. Even though it’s tough for Kobe, it’s a blessing in disguise for other people out there to get a chance. They’ve just got to take full advantage of it."
Ideally, Young and a patchwork supporting cast will make incremental developmental strides in order to stem the team's losing tide.
However, if retaining the top-five protected selection that's owed to the Houston Rockets winds up serving as a consolation prize in the face of further adversity, the P that succeeds Swaggy may soon stand for "Pick Protector."
All statistics current as of Jan. 26 and courtesy of NBA.com unless noted otherwise.
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