Top 20 Kobe Bryant Quotes From The First Half Of The 2010-2011 Season
Lakers guard Kobe Bryant may be 32-years-old and in his 15th NBA season, but by no means has he even begun to fall off the map.
Bryant is the current NBA leader in points per 48 minutes, and he received the most All-Star votes of any NBA player this season.
The Lakers are the two-time defending NBA champions and have their standards set high to win a third title in a row this season.
However, this season has had it ups and downs, as the Lakers have shown flashes of brilliance, as well as signs of weakness.
Throughout the Lakers first 57 games of the season, Bryant has had a variety of opinions regarding the teams' play, as well as the inconsistencies that the Lakers have endured.
Here are the top 20 quotes from Kobe Bryant through the first half of the season, and by first half we mean up until the All-Star break.
20. Lakers Stopped Playing Hard In the Final Quarter at Auburn Hills
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“That is our job and that is what we are supposed to do. We are getting paid to play. You get caught up in not doing that too much then you create bad habits and you don’t want to have bad habits.”
Kobe was frustrated with the way the Lakers struggled to close out what should have been an easy win for the two-time defending champs.
The Lakers were up 84-63 on the struggling Pistons at the end of three quarters, but were outscored 25-11 to start the 4th quarter before pulling away at the end, despite the Laker starters playing until the end of the game.
19. The Lakers Lose To Sacramento at Home
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"We didn't execute defensively very well. We blew so many coverages and gave so many open looks. We were a little out of sync and slow in our rotations, and it cost us. We just weren't sharp defensively at all. We've still got work to do. We still have to continue to work at it and get more consistent."
The Lakers suffered an inexcusable loss to the lowly Sacramento Kings at home. In the game, the Kings shot over 51 percent from the field, while Kings players DeMarcus Cousins and Samuel Dalembert combined for 45 points.
Making matters even worse, in addition to the normally televised home game on Fox Sports West, Fox Sports Prime Ticket had a special courtside view of the game. There were no announcers on Prime Ticket, just sounds from the action of the game and a unique camera view, so Laker fans had an even better look at the embarassing loss.
18. The Lakers Start out 8-0
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“We don’t take much out of it. The regular season is just about (gathering) enough wins, just trying to get better, and tonight we did that.”
The Lakers barely won at home against a last place Minnesota Timberwolves team, reaching 8-0 on the season.
Bryant knows that an 8-0 start to an 82 game season is nothing to get too excited about, especially with an easy schedule.
17. The Lakers Lost to the Suns in an Offensive Shoot Out
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"You hate losing, especially to start a road trip, but it is what it is. They made big shots, a lot of them."
This was the first home loss of the season for the Lakers, and the last game before they went on a three game road trip.
In the loss against Phoenix, the Suns made 22 three-pointers, the second most in NBA history. It was the Lakers second straight loss after beginning the season 8-0.
16. The Lakers Bounce Back
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"I told the guys, 'Listen to how everyone is talking about you. You have to use it as fuel for motivation.'"
Coming into the game, Laker fans were worried about the club, after they had lost four out of six, including convincing home losses to Milwaukee and Memphis.
The Lakers easily beat the Pistons, 108-83, outscoring Detroit 60-40 in the paint.
15. Shannon Brown Misses an Open Dunk
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"I found it funny. He was so high up. When you're on top of a building and you're throwing a pebble down on the street sometimes you miss the target."
Ironically, Shannon Brown, who missed the dunk, participated in last seasons' All-Star slam dunk competition. Brown is one of the most athletic players in the league, but he missed an easy dunk on a fast break.
Bryant found this funny, but would have been livid had the Lakers not had a 38 point lead at the time.
14. The Lakers Beat Chicago
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"The more games we have like this, the more we understand how to play off each other defensively."
After the Bulls cut the Lakers lead to 81-79 early in the fourth quarter, the Lakers outscored the Bulls 15-4 over the next seven minutes, as Chicago made just one field goal in the final eight minutes.
This was one of the Lakers' better defensive games of the season, beating a good Chicago team.
13. The Lakers Win in New York
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"I wanted to come out and play a good floor game, but they jumped us on early. They got momentum early, so try to see if I could get something going and try to get the momentum back. Because I know if I knock down two or three shots in a row, all of sudden everybody says, 'It's going to be one of those nights.' That takes momentum away from them."
Bryant had one of his best shooting nights of the season, making 12 of 17 attempts from the field, including 17 points in the first quarter.
For the game, the Lakers made 54 percent of their field goal attempts, beating the Knicks for their fourth win in a row to start their seven game roadtrip.
12. The Lakers Lose at Home to Boston
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"I think guys are upset, and they should be. We're not playing very well against these top teams, so we need to elevate our level and need to get better if we're to defend our throne. There's no other option but that."
The Lakers lost by 13 points at home to their rival Celtics in the first meeting between the two teams since game 7 of the NBA finals.
The Lakers were already half way through the season and had only beaten one of top seven teams in the league.
11. The Lakers Lose Their Fouth Straight
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"How do you know how good we think we are? We're fine. Are we going to win a three-peat today? Probably not, but the [expletive] is not played today."
This was Kobe's response to the question: "Have the Lakers considered that they aren't as good as they thought they were?"
This was the Lakers fourth consecutive loss, this time to an injury-depleted Houston Rockets team.
After beginning the season 8-0, the Lakers had lost six out of 11.
10. The Lakers Lose To San Antonio at The Buzzer
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"I think it builds mental toughness. It was an ugly game. When you've got two good defensive teams, for the most part it's going to be that way."
The Lakers had gone on a 17-8 run to take the lead with just 22 seconds left in the game. The Spurs missed three shots on their final possession, but got three offensive rebounds on the last possession, culminating with McDyess' tip in at the buzer to win it.
Although the Lakers lost, it was a step in the right direction for Los Angeles. The Lakers were a few bad bounces away from beating the San Antonio Spurs, who have by far the best record in the entire NBA.
9. The Lakers Lose to Miami on Christmas Day
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"It's like these games mean more to our opponents than they do to us. I think we need to get that straight -- play with more focus, put more [emphasis] on these games. I don't like it. ... We know what we're capable of doing, and that's part of the problem."
Any loss is painful, but a 16 point loss at home on national television in one of the most hyped games of the season is even more excruciating.
The loss continued a trend of extremely disappointing Laker showings, one game after a loss at home to Milwaukee by 19 points.
8. The Lakers Win By 55
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"You don't ever imagine something like that. You just go out there and do your job, and we did it for 48 minutes."
The Cleveland Cavaliers were certainly one of the worst teams in the league, but the 112-57 blowout was a major story any way you look at it.
The 57 points that Cleveland scored was the fewest points the Lakers have ever given up in a game in their storied history.
Had the Cavaliers scored one less point, it would have been just the second time in NBA history in which a team doubled the points of their opponent.
7. Andrew Bynum's First Game
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"We played much better. We executed much better. Our defense did an excellent job. Drew makes a big difference plugging up the middle, rebounding. He's moving better. ... He seems to be more stable, more active."
The Lakers played one of their better games of the season in Andrew Bynum's first game of the season.
A big part of this was Bynum's defense, as the Lakers gave up just 88 points on the road to New Orleans, a team that was 13-3 at home coming in to the game.
For the game, Bynum scored 18 points on just 12 shot attempts, to go along with six rebounds.
6. The Lakers Win at Boston
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"This is one of the best atmospheres, if not the best atmosphere playing in the league today."
The Lakers won in Boston in their first game at the Garden since game 5 of the NBA finals.
It was the Lakers' third win in a row to start their seven game road trip, and certainly their most impressive win of the season.
The game was close up until the five minute mark of the fourth quarter with Boston fans making a lot of noise, but the Lakers pulled away in the final minutes.
5. Miami Loses To Boston on the First Night of The Regular Season
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"I don’t give two shits about it."
This was Kobe's response to Miami losing their first game of the season, after the Heat were the talk of the NBA for the three months leading up to the season.
Kobe Bryant, whose Lakers are coming off of back-to-back championships, is the last person that would jump on the Heat bandwagon. To Bryant, the Heat are a non-factor until they can prove themselves in the postseason.
4. Point Shaving
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"I was point shaving"
This was Kobe's response when asked why he missed three straight free throws in the final minutes of a 101-94 Laker win against Oklahoma City.
Kobe's quote drew strong laughs from the reporters, but it was also a rather controversial statement, given the NBA's recent history with referee Tim Donaghue betting on a game in which he was refereeing.
3. Lakers on a Roll To Start The Season
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"We're a pretty good team, We're just playing extremely well together. We're a deep team, we're an unselfish team, and this is what you get."
The Lakers felt very good about themselves, coming off of a 25-point win against Portland to improve their record to 7-0.
At this point, the fans and the media began talkng about the possibility of the Lakers challenging the Bulls' record of 72 wins during the regular season. Little did they know the Lakers would go on to lose six of the next 12 ball games.
2. Ring Ceremony
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"It was fun. Its always fun when this night comes and you get a chance to enjoy it, and tonight was even more special because we all introduced each other."
The Lakers celebrated their 2009-2010 title and were given their rings before their first game of the season. Unlike in previous years, the Laker players introduced each other one at a time in front of the Staples Center crowd.
After the ceremony, the Lakers beat the Rockets 112-110.
1. Black Swan
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“Even when he was in Memphis and he was the go-to guy, he was always very nice, very white swan. I need him to be black swan. Be an (expletive) sometimes.”
Ever since Gasol was traded to the Lakers in 2008, Bryant has tried to get the 7-footer to be more aggressive and less predictable.
Prior to a game at New Orleans, Bryant called out Gasol, saying that he should be more black swan, a reference to the 2010 movie, inferring that Gasol should be less predictable and make more of an impact.
Gasol went on to play one of his best games of the season, scoring 34 points in a win against the Hornets.
