SAN ANTONIO The journey Kobe Bryant traveled has sparked varying emotions. Answers will emerge as Bryant fights Father Time and his teammates fight youth.
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The Lakers may have a way of getting more value out of Kobe Bryant’s $25 million contract: Fire Byron Scott and make him interim coach for the rest of the season.
“I want him to enjoy this as much as possible”, Scott said of Bryant.
It was reminiscent of a game past year against the Knicks when he scored 37 points despite breaking a bone in his hand in the first quarter. Kawhi Leonard was in the starting lineup but you could tell through the first three quarters, he was not himself.
Rodriguez/Getty ImagesKobe Bryant is the highest-paid player in the National Basketball Association, and the third-highest earning player in league history.
Was that really entertainment creeping back into a Lakers game after so many duds on the court?
True Timberwolves fans certainly we’re happy that he wasn’t on the court, of course, because last night would have been a totally different story.
Because of this, fans can expect to see Bryant continuing to play 30+ minutes a night, jack up 20 shots a game and go without blame or resistance from the coaching staff despite the clear deterioration of his play – simply because he’s earned it.
Subsequently, here’s to hoping that Kobe continues making these types of late-game calls more often as the season goes on-even if it still means that Scott basically has no say or real hold over his players and authority in his decision-making. Russell would end up scoring nine of the Laker’s last 11 points from regulation and into overtime. At the end of the night, Russell and Randle had combined for 43 points, 13 rebounds and four assists.
However, no ovation has been as audacious as the one he has received on the eight game road-trip to begin his “unrequested” retirement tour. Even beyond his play on the floor, he’s played as great a role as anyone in the global expansion of the game.
It wasn’t so great from there for Russell, who missed the potential go-ahead shot on an 18-footer with 3.9 seconds left.
“Eventually, it’s going to be kind of like this anyway”. In a Toronto town that, in a very Kobe-like move that I’m sure he kind of dug, refused to acknowledge that he once dropped 81 points on in a recent tribute video.
But as much as the Lakers gushed about that moment, will this mark a turning point in how they weigh Bryant’s experience and the potential of their young players? Bryant definitely deserves a proper acknowledgement at All-Star Weekend, where he’s been 17 times to this point in his career, and he’ll surely want to put on a good show for the crowd during the game. “It hasn’t been a fun wrist for about a year, so we’ll see how it is”.
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The highly touted rookie duo responded to the nod from Bryant by delivering their best performances of the season. That occasion will be in the house that Kobe (and Shaq) built, Staples Center.
