Lakers Win over Golden State: Bryant’s Worst Nightmare
By Daniel Tran
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The Los Angeles Lakers cannot win without him. That is what Kobe Bryant knows in his heart to be true. He poured 18 years of blood, sweat, tears, and five championships into the franchise and there is no way that they would stand up to him because he is the treasure and cash cow for the Purple and Gold.
So during the 2014-15 season, he continues to snarl at reporters, publicly chastise management, and intimidates his teammates for the simple reason that drives anyone to do anything: because they can. No matter what Bryant did, the Lakers organization and his teammates would have to adjust to him. Or at least that is what he hoped.
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Kobe Bryant has spent the past nine years since Shaquille O’Neal asserting his will on the Los Angeles Lakers, inundating the organization with a modest motto: Do it my way, or the get the hell out. If not for Phil Jackson and a skilled big man perfect for the triangle, there is a legitimate question of whether the Lakers would have succeeded under such a harsh rule, but with success comes validation and Bryant’s will and reputation were confirmed with two successful championship runs.
So like Jon Bon Jovi, Bryant lives on that prayer, hoping that his championship pedigree allows him to control an organization even with his poor shot selection and inefficient play. However, tonight against the Golden State Warriors, the Lakers got some leverage back.
With Bryant sitting out to rest his tired legs, the Los Angeles Lakers showed what they can do when Bryant’s horrific 37.2 percent from the field is not on the court. They were able to jump on top of the Warriors and scored an impressive victory against the best team in the tough Western Conference.
In past it has been tough to argue that Bryant, a superstar player for so long, has been the source of the Lakers woes. While the 19-year veteran is hardly the sole source for the Lakers’ struggles, the total team performance tonight made it hard to argue against that point.
With Bryant out of the game, seven of the ten Lakers who saw time on the court scored in double figures. Carlos Boozer continued his solid play off the bench by finishing with a team-high 18 points and nine rebounds.
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Ronnie Price also had an impressive outing showcasing his shooting and playmaking ability, leading the team with eight assists and 42.8 percent shooting from three-point range. Contrary to those numbers, it was not just Price who was in the giving mood against the Warriors.
The Lakers as a team dished out 28 assists, which is about eight more than their season average. The ball was moving fluidly through each player, and at times, it appeared that all five Lakers on the court touched the ball at least once before taking a shot. Lakers head coach Byron Scott adjusted the Lakers’ offense on the fly to accommodate his personnel and the Lakers responded with one of their most efficient shooting nights of the year, converting 51.7 percent of their shots from the field. Surprisingly, a lot of those baskets occurred in transition off some solid Laker defense.
Though the Warriors scored 105 points in the game, the Lakers played adequate defense on one of the most potent offenses in the NBA. Yes, Golden State was still able to shoot 46.2 percent from beyond the three-point arc, but the Lakers forced them into 19 turnovers and blocked 10 of their shots.
Prior to the game, the numbers were already against Bryant. With Bryant off the court, the Lakers had a 110.3 offensive rating that is 5.6 points better than when he was on the court. On defense, the Lakers sport a defensive rating of 101.2, a staggering 16.6 points better than when Bryant was on the floor.
The popular argument was that when Bryant was off the floor, the Lakers players that were on the court were going against inferior talent and therefore had better numbers. Looks like that argument no longer holds any water.
Against a top backcourt combination composed of Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson, the Bryant-less Lakers were able to post an offensive rating of 118.7 and a defensive rating of 108.4. Prior to the game the Lakers had an offensive rating of 106.7 and a defensive rating of 114.1. With players like Ronnie Price, Wayne Ellington, and Jeremy Lin going against the top lineup of the top team in the Western Conference, the Lakers still improved their play on both ends of the court without Bryant.
During a practice almost two weeks ago, Bryant called his teammates soft and told general manager Mitch Kupchak that “these (expletives) aren’t doing (expletive) for me.” Turns out he may have underestimated them slightly. With his teammates proving their worth without him, there is no logical reason why Bryant should continue with his atrocious shooting habits.
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Even when Bryant had a stacked team with Pau Gasol, Andrew Bynum and Meta World Peace, he would still have games where it seemed like the game was too boring for him, so he took 25-30 shots to just to see what would happen, but at least those games were few and far between. Hopefully with the effort and execution his teammates showed, Bryant can let this team run the offense without his incessant ball jacking, which will further help him save his energy for the more important points of the game.
Prior to the game against the Warriors, some fans and experts could argue that this team did not have enough proven scoring for Bryant to trust them to make the shot when they needed to have it. After the Bryant-less Lakers’ performance against Golden State, even Bryant and his most oblivious Bryant supporters have to see that he needs to trust them and concede total control of the ball.
It has been a while since Bryant has been in this position. During the three-peat years when Bryant was injured during the regular season, the Lakers had a 25-7 record. Though that was a product of having Shaquille O’Neal to carry the load, it still spoke volumes that the team was performing well without Bryant on the court.
This of course is not the same situation as the Lakers have a significantly less talented team this year, but this could be the start of a trend where the Lakers start gaining confidence that they can win without Bryant; a notion that will cause him to lose all leverage he had with team as the alpha and the omega of the team.
With this win against the Warriors, the Lakers sent a clear message to Bryant; a message that he never thought he would hear or even have to consider following: Do it our way because we do not need you.