Nick Young On Kobe-Less Lakers: “Some Guys Played Like ‘DJango Unchained.’ They Were Free Tonight”

The Lakers shocked the NBA last night by defeating the league-leading Golden State Warriors, 115-105 at Staples Center without star Kobe Bryant. It was a strong all-around performance, and Nick Young alluded to the team playing like Quentin Tarantino‘s revenge flick Django Unchained, after the big upset without their star.

Seven Lakers reached double-figures in the win, with Carlos Boozer leading the way with 18 points and nine rebounds. That might not sound like much, but the whole team played out of their minds to upset to the Association’s best team through the season’s first quarter.

No Warriors opponent had shot better than 50 percent from the field all season, and the Lakers shot 51.7 percent overall as well as 46.2 percent (12-for-26) from beyond the three-point arc.

Young, who finished with 15 points off the bench, opined an interesting analogy to ESPN.com’s J.A. Adande after the game:

Young — no stranger to hyperbole — is essentially comparing the Lakers last night to freed slaves, no longer shackled to the shoot-first Kobe Bryant.

When a reporter asked Young how the Lakers can keep this momentum going when Bryant is re-introduced into the lineup on Christmas Day tomorrow, Young continued to use classic movies in his metaphors for Bryant:

“Pretty much we’re gonna have to tell Kobe to pass me the ball. Pass us the ball…Tell him to take a backseat for a little bit. He can be Driving Miss Daisy, I can be Miss Daisy and drive.”

Man, that’s two movie metaphors by Nick Young when asked about Kobe, and not the most complimentary ones, either. Practice might be tense in the lead-up to tomorrow’s Bulls-Lakers game on Christmas Day.

Young drove to last night’s game in this 1962 Impala convertible, and it’s clear he’s enjoying any bright spot on an otherwise plagued year for the Lakers.

(videos via Lakers Nation & Golden State Warriors; image via reddit)

How does Kobe respond?

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