Most of the time, a teammate questioning Kobe Bryant’s methods would be insanity. In this case, it’s Linsanity.
Jeremy Lin questioned Bryant’s shot selection after the Los Angeles Lakers’ 136-115 loss to the Golden State Warriors on Sunday, though Lin wasn’t foolish enough to single out Bryant by name. It wasn’t difficult to decipher who Lin was talking about, though, after Bryant jacked up 34 shots — en route to scoring a game-high 44 points — in the defeat.
“The game of basketball is … we’ve got to do it together,” Lin told ESPN.com’s Baxter Holmes. “It can’t be … if I go into a game concerned about myself, then in some ways that’s detrimental to the team. … There’s so many things wrong right now. At the top of the list, I would say communication, trust and effort.”
Lakers forward Carlos Boozer also hinted that Bryant’s solo act hurt the team’s offensive rhythm.
“A lot of times we run a set, but Kobe is extremely aggressive,” Boozer told reporters. “And then we try to hit the glass, get it off the glass. We’ve got to find a balance. It can’t be lopsided.”
While it might be easy to disregard the comments of Lin and Boozer, who have five fewer championship rings combined than Bryant has himself, Lakers TV analysts (and past NBA champions) James Worthy and Robert Horry also raised concerns on-air over Bryant’s approach. Horry noted “there is no flow. … It’s Kobe this, Kobe that, and you can see the frustration in the other guys.”
Bryant, for his part, doesn’t seem to regret firing away with reckless abandon. But he’s not completely deflecting blame, either.
“This responsibility, it’s on me,” Bryant said, via ESPN.com. “When things go good, it’s ‘us.’ When things go bad, it’s ‘me.'”
Photo via Mark J. Rebila/USA TODAY Sports Images
