Kobe Bryant is full of crap. Yes, that’s an evergreen statement, but even in retirement, he recently proved to be even more full of crap that maybe ever before.
In an interview with the Wall Street Journal, he said some insane stuff about empathy-based strategy the Lakers would use on the defensive side of the court that, well, makes no sense in any way, shape or form (his answer starts around the 12:10 mark in the above video).
“There would be certain teams that had a player that they just signed to a max contract. And then a supporting player who was up for free agency who they hadn’t signed yet. So when we played them during the season, I’m saying, OK, here’s what we’re going to do: We’re going to double-team the guy that hasn’t gotten a max contract yet. We’re not gonna let him get a shot off. And then we’re going to single-cover the guy that has the max contract, and then watch the guy that doesn’t have the max contract bitch and complain about not getting the ball all night long, and watch them divide each other. Those are the little, subtle things we would do that simply comes from observation and understanding your opponent.”
In Kobe’s defense, he says that it may sound “psychotic,” and the good news is it does! There is no way that ever happened, at least not over the course of a full game, never mind every time the Lakers happened to play a team in this particular situation. There’s no way Phil Jackson was in the locker room before games telling his team to defend like this. It’s ludicrous in every way imaginable.
“Guys, we need to pay extra attention to LeBron.”
“Coach, I say we never double him but we focus all our attention on Birdman.”
“Kobe, what have I told you about talking during these meetings?”
“Yeah, but empathy.”
You know which NBA players get max contracts? Really good ones! You know which NBA players you should double team? Really good ones! Maybe this was a strategy Kobe developed before the 2013-14 season, when the Lakers began a run of winning 27, 21, and 17 games before he retired. Actually, that would make a lot of sense if the Double Team The Guy Not Good Enough To Get His Contract Extended Before His Final Year Defense was created then.
