Kobe Bryant: Willing to Sacrifice

There are less than a handful of players in the league who can do it.  It takes a special kind of player to take 34 shots. Even without the best field goal percentage, it takes a special kind of player to make 15 of the 34.  After all, 44% from the field isn’t that bad, is it?

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He was 3 of 12 behind the arc, and 11-16 from the free throw line.

Now, ask yourself, if he made just two more shots and shot 50% from the field, would we be talking about this?  What if he scored 50 points with a few more made free throws and three-pointers?  Would it still be Kobe Bryant’s fault?

The truth is, it would be.  He’s the leader of the team, and it would be perceived that it’s his fault for not involving the rest of the team.

Kobe Bryant knows it, and he’s willing to make a sacrifice.

"“I’m more than willing to sit back. If you think I want to shoot as many times or as be as aggressive at 36 years old, you’re freaking crazy,” he said. Bryant likened watching his team fall behind to observing a thief fleeing the scene of the crime.“When a purse gets stolen in front of you, how many blocks are you going to let the guy run?” he asked.“Maybe I’m being too aggressive. Maybe I’ve got to let the person run a couple more blocks and let the authorities come. Those are things that I have to evaluate. – Eric Pincus, L.A. Times"

Remember, Kobe Bryant is the last of the old school NBA mentality.  If he goes down, he’ll go down swinging.  Yes, Kobe took a lot of shots against the Warriors, but it can be argued that he was critical to a few scoring runs to keep it remotely close a few times.

But it’s been 19 years in the league, and some things haven’t changed.  This is the same Kobe Bryant that shot the airballs in Utah as a youngster.  It’s also the same mentality that has carried the Laker franchise over the past 15 years.  It has taken all of this time.  He has won championships by showing trust and letting go, but it seems that Kobe isn’t willing to give it up just yet.

At the very least, he has the mentality to make his teammates better.  He recognizes it.  We just need to see it on the floor.