. @ramonashelburne asked Kobe how he’s smiling after all these losses & Kobe offered a heck of an analogy to explain pic.twitter.com/tVHQX05n1J
— Shahan Ahmed (@shahanLA) December 24, 2015
The Los Angeles Lakers are bad. This isn’t a startling revelation to anyone who has seen them play this season. Their core is primarily first and second-year players who are still learning the ins and outs of professional basketball. Kobe Bryant was an abject disaster for the first 17 games, but has played better as of late. And while the roster has some nice veteran talent sprinkled around it, Byron Scott’s archaic approach has only exacerbated the team’s issues. Sitting at 5-24, the Lakers might actually keep their first round pick that is Philly bound if it falls outside of the top three.
Amidst the chaos surrounding the Lakers, Kobe seems to have found some clarity. Fresh off a 35-point loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder on Wednesday, Bryant flashed a wide grin in his postgame presser. In his final season, Kobe has a keen understanding of the Lakers’ situation, which is evident in this illustrative analogy he gave after the Thunder loss:
“You have to be realistic about what we’re facing: where we are as a team, as an organization,” Bryant responded when asked how he’s smiling through the losses—24 losses in 29 games to be exact. “You can train a cat all you want to bark; the damn cat’s not going to bark.”
Bryant added, “There’s no sense in yelling at it.”
The Lakers are bad and Kobe is at peace with it. He just wants to take time to smell the roses.
