Lakers Winning Because Of Kobe’s Trust In Team
February 12, 2007 by Angelo Fernandez
Filed under NBA Basketball
“I think my teammates know that I trust in them to perform well and I’m trying to get their best performance out of them,” Bryant recently told the Riverside Press Enterprise. “I think it heightens their confidence, and I continue to go to them and I continue to look for them on a nightly basis.”
If somehow this quote came out before the playoffs last season I would have said an outright “bullsh*t!”. The Lakers obviously struggled to find the right chemistry last season and if not for Kobe’s MVP like performance they would have been lottery bound for sure. But they did make the playoffs and did pretty well despite the loss to the Phoenix Suns in the first round. This year they’re doing really well as one of the top teams in the West and it’s because Kobe continue doing what he did in that series against the Suns last season – trust his team mates.
After all these years in the league and after winning three championships and after experiencing a bad season (the first without Shaq), Kobe Bryant finally got the clue on how to be a leader and a true star. He was labeled a ball hog and self centered and I actually still think he was at the time. But their current 30-22 record is the result of trust. Kobe now trusts the team enough to make the shots, to make the plays and that’s why he gets them involved. That’s why he passes them the ball. The explanation to why he used to not pass was that his team mates were unreliable and not to be trusted. But it took loses to the Suns in that first round for Kobe and Phil to agree that the way to get better is to get the team involved. Kobe placed trust on his teammates that he never used to place and got the expected result of better games and more wins.
Right now I’m pleased to see the Lakers flourish as a result of real team work guided by the work and leadership of the now unselfish Kobe. It’s really all that was lacking in Kobe’s game in my opinion. Now he’s truly a triple threat who can drive, make the outside J and dish the ball to an open man.
But they have a disastrous read trip lately . at least the last 3 games .
True but I’m talking about overall performance this season. They’re still one of the top teams in the West.