With Kobe’s hanging jumper over Jason Kidd, Kobe passed Reggie Miller for 13th on the NBA’s all-time scoring list.
It came late in the 2nd quarter where Kobe drove towards the rim, stopped and elevated for a one legged hanging jumper.
Reggie Miller had 25,270 career points.
The next stop for Kobe is surpassing Alex English’s 25,613 career points.
Kobe continues to climb up on the all-time scoring list.
Bryant is just 2 points shy of passing Reggie Miller (25,279) for 13th all-time in scoring.
A great piece on Caron Butler and Kobe.
Mavericks Blog: Caron Butler spent a year in Los Angeles as Kobe Bryant’s Laker teammate thanks to the Shaquille O’Neal trade that sent the big fella to Miami.
“I say that’s the best thing that ever could have happened for me personally for my career,” Butler said. “To play alongside a guy like that, see his preparation, see what it takes to get to that level, that’s why I was able to be so good in Washington because I took everything I learned from him under his wing.”
Butler played in 77 games in 2004-05 with the Lakers. He averaged a then career-high (by a tick) 15.5 points and then career-high 5.8 rebounds. His free throw shooting improved, too.
“Work ethic,” Butler said. “He comes to the gym 6:30, 7 in the morning, gets shots every day, a rhythm. Afterward hits the weight room, works out in the summer, studying film, critiquing guys, watching their tendencies, picking things up … Just studying the game with him taught me a lot.”
Butler and Bryant talk every couple of weeks and when Butler was traded to Dallas Bryant was quick with a call.
“He told me he was happy for me and happy to see me in a situation to be able to legitimately compete for a title,” Butler said.
But Wednesday will be a different conversation.
“You always hear that he’s ready to compete,” Butler said. “He’s happy but at the same time once we get on the court all bets are off with Kobe. He’s going to bring it, then hug me afterwards. That’s how it is. It’s business.”
The Mamba is back!
L.A. Times: Kobe Bryant made a point of finding every teammate after the game and embracing them, even thanking them.
He was indisputably back, making another mark on another 48 minutes of Lakers basketball.
He hadn’t played a game in 18 days, but there he was Tuesday, the ball in his hands and the game clock almost drained to zeros.
So he did it again, drilling a three-pointer with 4.3 seconds left that ultimately dropped the Memphis Grizzlies, 99-98, at FedEx Forum.
It was met with sarcasm.
“He’s lucky,” Lakers Coach Phil Jackson said dryly. “Very, very lucky.”
It was greeted with wonderment.
“He really stepped up at the end of the game,” Pau Gasol said, “like he was never out.”
And it was surrounded by questions.
“I lost it a little bit,” he said, leading to a few confused looks from media members.
He didn’t look like he had lost anything in his return, other than a couple of bad passes.
“My off hand lost the ball a little bit and I had to gather it a little bit,” he said.
So Kobe returns healthy. Thats good news!
L.A. Times: Lakers guard Kobe Bryant said he will play Tuesday against Memphis, ending a five-game absence because of a sore ankle.
“I feel good, like a gazelle,” he said after practicing Monday.
Bryant acknowledged that the ankle wasn’t fully healthy but wasn’t concerned about further damaging it.
“Where I’m at now, I feel confident about playing and, while I play, getting to 100%,” Bryant said. “It’s about 80, 85 [percent] right now. The rest of the percentage is just made up just from strength.”
The Lakers went 4-1 without Bryant, who was sidelined by a sprain in the ankle and a sore peroneal tendon, which runs vertically behind the ankle bone.
The Lakers have a back-to-back set this week, playing in Dallas a night after playing in Memphis.
Continue reading ‘Kobe says he will play Tuesday against Memphis’
Kobe feeling like a gazelle? It took long, yet it was worth the recovery.
L.A. Times: Kobe Bryant said he would play Tuesday against Memphis, 18 days after his last game with the Lakers, bolstered by a four-day weekend and a Monday morning practice that didn’t produce any pain in his left ankle.
“I feel good, like a gazelle,” he said. “As always, the ultimate test is to see how it develops and how it holds up to stress and the pressure of traveling and playing in back-to-backs.”
The Lakers play an increasingly intriguing game Wednesday in Dallas, a day after Bryant’s expected return against the Grizzlies. He acknowledged that the ankle didn’t feel entirely healed but said it was close enough.
“Where I’m at now, I feel confident about playing and, while I play, getting to 100%,” he said. “It’s about 80-85 right now. The rest of the percentage is made up just from strength.”
Bryant is averaging 28 points, 5.3 rebounds and 4.6 assists, but the Lakers went 4-1 in a series of well-balanced efforts without him. They are half a game behind Cleveland (43-14) for the NBA’s best record.
“It’ll be a little bit of an adjustment for us, but we’re all excited to have him back,” forward Pau Gasol said. “He looked good. With this little break that we just had after the Boston game, everybody’s energized and ready to go. I think it’s going to translate to the games.
“We have to make sure we continue to move the ball. I think that’s a big part of our success.”
Bryant’s return would come against the same Grizzlies team he lit up for 44 points on 16-for-28 shooting this month, but the Lakers lost, 95-93, when Ron Artest missed a three-point attempt as time expired.
After that game, during which Bryant broke Jerry West’s career franchise scoring record, Gasol said the Lakers were “not making a conscious effort on pounding the ball inside.”
Gasol had only 10 points on four-for-seven shooting that night and said Monday that returning to Memphis, the franchise that dealt him to the Lakers two years ago and employs his younger brother,Marc, at center, always represented a personally charged night.
“There’s a lot going on emotionally,” he said. “I want to play well, especially in that game. Last time I was a little bit upset because I wasn’t able to do that.”
Continue reading ‘Kobe feels ‘good’, like a gazelle and expects to play against Memphis’
I would say the Lakers can win a few games here and there without Kobe, but not the post season.
Bleacher Report: The Los Angeles Lakers’ recent winning streak in the absence of Kobe Bryant says more about the overall talent of the team than their efficiency without their fallen star.
Any proof needed as to the value of Bryant can be gleaned from the Lakers’ defeat at the hands of the Boston Celtics, where his defense and clutch shooting were sorely missed.
I would be willing to bet few true Laker fans are offering the team as improved without Bryant, because the people saying it have no respect for what he means to the team.
The ability of the Lakers to repeat is contingent solely on Kobe’s ability to return from injury and assume the superstar level of play to which he is accustomed.
It’s not an easy task by any means, but the road becomes impossible if the Lakers are faced with a postseason devoid of one of the greatest players in the history of the franchise.
Continue reading ‘The Lakers are a poorer team without Kobe Bryant?’
The most clutch player in the NBA history of the NBA.
L.A. Times: Bryant watched in the locker room when the Lakers lost to Boston, 87-86, on Thursday night. The Lakers inbounded the ball with 2.2 seconds left, only to see Fisher miss the shot Bryant normally takes.
Bryant said Luke Walton told him the next time he’s injured, he should sit on the bench with his uniform on and be ready to go in like New York Yankees closer Mariano Rivera.
“That was the best solution,” Bryant joked.
Everybody’s favorite writer weighs in on Kobe and the free agency… [/sarcasim]
N.Y. Post: Until Kobe Bryant officially signs a Lakers’ extension — in the works almost as long as the construction of the Second Avenue subway — I’m guessing he’d be another rising free agent the Knicks may be interested pursuing this summer to team up with LeBron James, Dwyane Wade or Chris Bosh.
Entitled to opt out of next season’s $24,806,250 salary, Kobe has repeatedly professed he’s not going anywhere, scoffing at the often-broached notion he’d consider abandoning the Lakers’ liner.
The fact such critical business is taking so long to finalize amps speculation Kobe has a perfectly good motive for stalling.
Yeah, maybe some sticky wicket technicalities simply need twisting and tweaking.
More likely, common sense dictates, Kobe is declining to commit until Phil Jackson’s coaching status next season is resolved.
Are we experiencing a related ricochet romance moment? Flashback to Jackson’s last two seasons with the Bulls when (Jerry) Crumbs Krause had Tim Floyd waiting in the wings. Jordan made it clear: “If Phil doesn’t coach, I don’t play.”
Eventually, after six crowns in eight seasons, prevalent disrespect by managing partner Jerry Reinsdorf and Krause, whose proclamation, “Organizations win championships, not players,” continues to incite Jordan (Hall of Fame speech), induced His Airness and the Zen Hen to vacate Chicago . . . leaving another title crusade or two on the chart.
Considering Kobe’s delay to re-up, as well as the likelihood that owner Jerry Buss will shrink Jackson’s annual $11 million salary in half, if he even makes him an offer (I’m told this picture is a distinct possibility, with Byron Scott waiting in the wings this time), it’s certainly not unreasonable to wonder if Kobe has adopted an identical stance: “If Phil doesn’t coach, I don’t play.”
The rest came at the right time.
L.A. Times: Beware of any movement within the Lakers organization the following week. We’re not talking about trades. That deadline has already passed. We’re talking about the repercussions if Lakers guard Kobe Bryant isn’t healthy enough to play Tuesday against Memphis.
“If not, I’m firing everybody,” joked Bryant, who has missed the past five games because of a left ankle and tendon injury.
All kidding aside, Bryant anticipates playing against Memphis after practice Saturday, but he’ll have a much better idea how he feels tomorrow when he gets treatment.
The Lakers’ schedule this week couldn’t come at a better time. After their 87-86 loss Thursday to the Boston Celtics, the Lakers had the day off Friday, a short practice Saturday and plan for another day off Sunday before playing Tuesday at Memphis . With Bryant’s sprained left ankle, Andrew Bynum’s right hip, Luke Walton’s pinched nerve in his lower back and Sasha Vujacic’s sprained right shoulder, the Lakers hope the extra rest is the right subscription for full recovery.
The most urgent case obviously involves Bryant because of his skill level and because he’s on pace to recover fairly soon. Bynum has already returned to the lineup for the past two games. Walton is out indefinitely. And Vujacic is expected to miss “a couple weeks,” the team said Saturday.
And after today’s practice, Bryant says there were several things that pleased him, including his elevation (“I can jump.”), his conditioning (“I’m really fortunate I got these really huge lungs.”) and his level of pain (“The ankle is still a little sore in certain points, but it went away.” )
He joked that he would’ve stayed in the lineup had he known he was a game away from playing in 1,000 career contests, a feat guard Derek Fisher ultimately reached before Bryant (“I would’ve just limped through the game.”). He kicked around the idea that Walton proposed when the Lakers trailed Boston by one with 2.2 seconds remaining (“He said next time what you do when you can’t play is sit on the bench in your uniform. If it comes down to that situation, just send yourself in like Mariano Rivera.”). And then the interview came to a screeching halt when Bryant was asked what he thought ofTiger Woods’ apology (“I’ll catch ya’ll later” as he walked away with a frustrated look.).
Continue reading ‘Lakers’ rest-heavy schedule comes at the right time’
Loading ...
