Kobe Bryant Tells LeBron James to ‘Let it Fly’ in the NBA Finals

The Cleveland Cavaliers hold a 2-1 lead in the NBA Finals largely thanks to LeBron James’ record-breaking 123 points in the series.

James has needed a staggering 107 shot attempts to get his numbers, and though he says that he’s not comfortable being such a one-man show, he realizes that he has no choice but to single-handedly carry the short-handed Cavs.

Kobe Bryant, providing real-time analysis of Game 3, had (predictably) no issue with LeBron taking so many shots.

The Black Mamba sent out a series of terrific tweets Tuesday night, and encouraged King James to keep launching away.

Bryant’s appearance on Sina Sports’ livestream NBA broadcast is part of his growing foothold in the Chinese marketplace.

Per the LA Times:

In his opening statement, Bryant said both the Cavs and Warriors had been jittery in the first two games. […] “In the first two games, both teams are in the excitement of getting to the finals. I think both of them were a little nervous to trust the system,” he said. “Because when you’re on that big stage, you want to make sure that you do everything right and tend to forget how to trust the system that got you there. I saw a lot of nerves.”

 

“Golden State will have to figure out how to defend LeBron on the mid-post, the elbow isolations, because he’s given them all kinds of problems from that,” he said. “Not necessarily scoring the ball, but creating double teams and getting shooters open shots on the weak sides.”

 

Though the Warriors ended up falling 96-91 to the Cavs, Bryant said the team was more “well-rounded and versatile” than Cleveland. He urged young Warriors players Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson to “figure out how to shake loose at the start of the game.” He noted that lack of experience may have led them to become hesitant on a big stage like the NBA Finals. […] “These guys gotta go back to playing the style of basketball that got them to the Finals, which is ball movement, moving off the ball, get layups at the rim and take their shots,” he said.

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