Before we begin: Kobe Bryant is joking. Now, let’s dive into Bryant’s appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live on Tuesday night, in which the Los Angeles Lakers legend spoke about the team’s early-season struggles as the Lakers are settling into the LeBron James era with the team. Los Angeles has started the year 0-3, partly due to a tough schedule, partly due to some rough defense, partly due to a semi-roster overhaul that occurred last season, and partly due to a whole bunch of other stuff that aren’t as easily identifiable as those three things.
All of this has something of a weird, awkward cloud hanging over this, because during the offseason, a small but vocal group of Laker fans expressed their discontent about James due to the rivalry he had early in his career with Bryant. Plenty of people around the Lakers said this wasn’t cool, even Bryant, who said he expects them to “fall in line.”
But still, Kimmel couldn’t help but ask Bryant how many games in a row it would take for him to un-retire, something he’s adamant he will not do. Kobe couldn’t help but respond by cracking a joke and getting the hopes of Lakers fans up just a tiny bit.
“If they go 0-5, I’ll think about it,” Bryant said with a gigantic grin on his face.
The Lakers’ next two games are a road trip to Phoenix on Wednesday night before playing host to the undefeated Nuggets one day later. The good news for fans that want to see Bryant back on the floor at Staples Center is that there’s certainly a scenario in which they lose both of those games. The bad news for them, though, is that he is not coming out of retirement.
