Less than 12 hours after returning to LA, the Lakers practiced hard, but the topic of the day still centered on Kobe Bryant and his abysmal shooting performance the night before: 1-14.
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“The frustration just kind of got to me tonight, it affected the way I played, the way I shot – blowing coverages defensively”, he said. “Like I’ve been saying, everybody’s a great one-on-one player, but we’ve got to work on team ball”. Maybe it could happen Saturday against the Trail Blazers; he’s averaged 33.1 points in his last seven games in Portland.
The Warriors’ historic win broke the previous record of 15-0 starts held by the 1948-49 Washington Capitols and 1993-94 Houston Rockets. In doing so, Golden State becomes just the third team in major American pro sports to win this many games to begin a season. Scott is trying to navigate an untenable situation to the best of his ability, but the Lakers have a long way to go before becoming relevant in the West.
The Lakers will resume practice Friday and play at Portland on Saturday.
Smith believes that Bryant can not do anything right now for the Lakers, especially in the very competitive Western Conference.
Lakers general manager Mike Kupchak revealed Kobe Bryant has already told him that “this is it”, probably hinting that he wants to quit the National Basketball Association where his playing for nearly 20 seasons now. He has shot 40 percent from the field just twice in 11 games this year.
“In all honesty, it was tough, the shots that I take, pullup shots and jumpers and contested jumpers – those are tough shots to hit at 27”, Bryant said Tuesday.
Scott said Bryant has been able to get enough rest.
One West scout said Bryant looked “disinterested” at times. “But whenever you can start a season like that, with the high expectations going into a year, going unblemished, it’s a proud moment for everyone in this locker room”.
“You can’t really get too far ahead of yourself”.
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Still, out of everyone that the Times interviewed, no one was as frank as Sir Charles Barkley, who gave some historical context to Kobe’s Sad Farewell Tour. “They just don’t trust each other on the floor”, Scott said, and then attempted to explain how a team could simultaneously not trust each other while still not having chemistry issues.
