Wednesday, January 11th, 2012 at 9:00 am  |  168 responses

Kobe Bryant Enjoying Proving Critics Wrong


by Marcel Mutoni / @marcel_mutoni

Everyone thought they saw the signs coming: Kobe Bryant’s numbers were headed downward, he was getting up there in age, his body racked by an endless amount of debilitating injuries, he had to deal with a new coach and system (which was supposed to begin tilting towards the team’s two big men), an uneven team, and there was even talk from some corners that LA was about to become a Clippers town.

Kobe Bryant’s gradual downfall seemed inevitable to all. All but Kobe Bryant, it seems.

The 33-year old future Hall of Famer turned the clock back last night against the Phoenix Suns, dropping in a season-high 48 points to lead the Los Angeles Lakers to their third straight win. Afterwards, Kobe took great delight in reminding the doubters just how wrong they have been about him.

From the LA Times:

Kobe Bryant wants you to say he can’t do it anymore. He’s too old. He’s played too many minutes. He’s too hurt. He shoots too much. After scoring an NBA season-high 48 points on 18 of 31 shooting in the Lakers’ 99-83 victory Tuesday over the Phoenix Suns, Bryant asked a reporter to tell him to his face he can’t consistently replicate such an effort through the rest of the Lakers’ (7-4) 55-game season. Even if he strung three 30-point plus games in the last four all on a torn ligament in his right wrist.

“Not bad for the seventh best player in the league,” Bryant said in a shot at the ranking a panel of ESPN writers gave him this offseason.

Kobe didn’t just have his critics in mind last night; the Black Mamba also let it be known that his long memory recalls the pain of past Playoff defeats at the hands of Phoenix: “I don’t like them,” Bryant said of the Suns. “Plain and simple, I do not like them. They used to whip us pretty good and used to let us know about it and I. Will. Not. Forget. That.” Even though most of the guys from that team are gone? “I. Don’t. Care,” Bryant said. “I won’t let it go.”

Kobe Bryant is now the League’s second-leading scorer at 29.5 points a game, and shooting 46% from the field.

Many still don’t consider the Lakers true title contenders this season, but Kobe is determined to prove us all wrong in that regard as well.

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  • http://www.leaguelineup.com/welcome.asp?url=pawtucketymca Gametimeweezy

    Yea Kobe shoots a lot and he just dropped 40 again tonight.
    And he is definately helping his team because I got him in the 2nd round on my fantasy team and I’m lovin the assist totals. And boards.
    How else is Kobe going to drop 30-40 a game? passin?

  • Drig

    @nbk

    You saw the play when Kobe posted up Nash and yelled Whoo! for the ball lol? And I wouldn’t be too worried right now about how LA is playing. Pau had no pop in his Js. Same with Bynum. Their subs were out for the day. Kapono was out and so is our 3pt shooting. Fish and Blake are well…….hmm…..not good at scoring to say the least. That’d leave us with Metta and Barnes as the active players….I’m saying that the schedule has more to do with the team playing to Kobe who I think has become a machine in Germany rather than the players’ inability or Kobe’s over-aggressiveness. And you’re right, if we play Kobe ball for 48 minutes, we won’t amount to anything significant. But the POs enables a lot more time to rest. IMO, THAT is gonna be key for LA this season. BTW, nice posting stuff here. I don’t usually do it because by the time I do looka t a post, everyone moves on lol. Glad I got in at the end. :D

    @gametimeweezy….Kobe has reached 30 points while being a playmaker lol. As ridiculous as it sounds, he got close to or almost a triple double getting 28-30/9/9 this season itself I think???

  • Drig

    Damn, what’s with the posting system here? I missed a post. Well anyways, all I posted there was that apologies for misunderstanding your opinions.

  • http://www.leaguelineup.com/welcome.asp?url=pawtucketymca Gametimeweezy

    Drig – Yea I think you’re right, you know what Metta and Barnes are the x-factors all the way

  • L

    Kobe’s cold.L

  • Justin G.

    Good Lord why do people insist on arguing with The Seed? As far as Pau and HOF, remember it’s the BASKETBALL HOF and not NBA. There’s a chance there, probably not first ballot though. nbk, while I respect most of what you say I think you’re in denial in your mostly dislike for Kobe. Most people (and I’m not saying you) dislike him simply because of the whole Colorado thing and wear blinders to the fact that he’s one of the greatest to ever play. Do people here actually watch the games? Like someone else pointed out, a lot of his shots are coming within the framework of the offense. Should he maybe look low a little more? Absolutely! But when he’s coming off screens and getting the ball with nobody around him and he’s 12-18 feet away of course he’s pulling the trigger. That’s what scorers do! Anyone who goes for 48+ is going to be taking 30+ shots a game, more often than not. It’s simple math really.
    I will correct The Seed on one thing though. MJ didn’t say he TRIES to get 8 points a quarter to get his 32. He said if he wanted to do it he could, it wouldn’t be that difficult. I believe you’re either quoting the Jordan Rules or one of Bob Greene’s books from when he travelled with him for two years.

  • http://www.triplejunearthed.com/dacre Dacre

    Shannon Brown thought he was at a Lakers practice all over again…

  • bobbyD

    @Allenp- HOF includes international stuff. You’re spot on there.

  • j edgar duder

    The Basketball Handbook by Lee Rose describes a shooting guard as someone whose primary role is to score points. As the name suggests, most shooting guards are good long-range shooters, typically averaging 35–40 percent from three point range (Ray Allen and Reggie Miller are good examples; on the other hand, three-point shooting was regarded as the only flaw in Michael Jordan’s game). Many shooting guards are also strong and athletic, and have the ability to get inside the paint and drive to the basket (Michael Jordan being an extraordinary example).

  • Justin G.

    So, NBK if someone goes off for 48 like Kobe did it’s always selfish? That seems to be the implication

  • aktion

    I wonder why its so much Kobe hate? They did Jordan the same way until he retired. I also think Kobe is number 1 until somebody shows different. I’m impressed by Durrant and Rose to there on the come up.

  • RedRum

    Lets get this straight. In a team like the Lakers, where there a lot of offensive talent with Pau and Drew at the post, there is not need for Kobe to take so many shots. It would make sense if he shot 55%+, but he does not. On the other hand, Pau and Drew shoot close to 60%. The Lakers offense would benefit from them taking 2-3 more high % shots each. Look what is happening now. Kobe scores in buckets, but LA only barely wins the games. His ball-hogging attitude comes to the detriment of the team. And please… can we stop the comparisons with MJ… he shot more than 50% his whole career.

  • Mike from Spain

    Kobe enjoys proving his critics wrong… only that he didn’t

  • Justin G.

    RedRum, to be fair Michael “only” shot over 50% in 6 seasons (4 of them being over 52%) while Kobe has yet to do it once and MJ does have a career mark of 49.7%. BTW Seed, in games where Michael had 30+ shot attempts his teams were 72-57. Guess he always shot his teams out of games huh? lol OK taking my own advice with arguing with that fool now

  • http://Slamonline.com nbk

    No, the implication is that Kobe is selfish 24/7.

  • DROSE_PLAYING_PINGPONG_AT_OLYMPICS

    It would be so much fun having jordan in todays nba!

  • DROSE_PLAYING_PINGPONG_AT_OLYMPICS

    Ideally on the nets or pistons scoring 45+ on average!

  • Jon

    Kobe is still the best in the league. And it’s not even close.

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