If inserting Ronnie Price and Ed Davis into the starting lineup won’t work for the Los Angeles Lakers, we’re not sure what would… Undeterred by his team’s season-long struggles in wake of tonight’s bad loss to the New Orleans Pelicans, though, Kobe Bryant offered more quotable gold: “If this was the Titanic, I’d go down with that s***.”
Kobe: "If this was the Titanic, I'd go down with that shit. I'm not jumping off."
— Baxter Holmes (@Baxter) December 8, 2014
Bleacher Report’s Kevin Ding transcribed Bryant a bit differently.
Kobe on the Lakers: "If this was the Titanic, I'd go down with the ship. I'm not jumping off."
— KEVIN DING (@KevinDing) December 8, 2014
Needless to say, we prefer Holmes’ interpretation. Kobe’s sentiment is the same either way.
In a seemingly desperate effort to spark his squad, Byron Scott replaced Jeremy Lin and Carlos Boozer with Price and Davis as starters versus the Pelicans. Nothing changed.
Los Angeles dropped to 5-16 with Sunday’s loss to New Orleans, a record that’s second-worst in the loaded Western Conference. The team has lost three consecutive games by at least 16 points after previously winning two straight for the first time this season.
Despite the Lakers’ struggles, Bryant’s support of the organization has been unwavering. He squashed any potential trade talk in early November by saying that he “bleeds purple and gold,” and has been consistently complimentary of the coaching staff and front office this season when asked his opinion.
Kobe isn’t going anywhere. The question now is if Los Angeles will be able to surround the league’s fourth all-time leading scorer with enough talent for his remaining years to be competitively relevant. We certainly hope Mitch Kupchak and company are up to the challenge – Bryant deserves to retire a winner.
What do you think?
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