The Los Angeles Lakers picked up another win on Sunday night as a new round of news and rumors come out.
Check out the latest buzz below.
Bryant Adjusting to New Role
Kobe Bryant has been focused on getting his teammates involved, and has also found that doing so has helped open things up for himself as well.
“It’s amazing, these teams are playing me like a passer now. I was in the lane and it parted like the Red Sea,” Kobe said of changing in the fourth quarter of the 88-87 win over the Indiana Pacers from distributor to scorer, reported Ramona Shelburne of ESPN.
Kobe also said that he thinks his adjusted style of play makes teammates “feel more accountable because they know I’m going to come, and keep coming, to them.”
“They (teammates) don’t want to let me down and when they miss a shot it’s like ‘Hey man I’ll make the next one,'” Bryant said, reported Serena Winters of Lakers Nation.
“I think they feel more self-accountable and more responsible about knocking those down because I’m putting my trust in them.”
Meanwhile, before the game, coach Byron Scott told the Los Angeles Times that Kobe has been keeping his temper.
“He really hasn’t blown up, to be honest with you. He’s been really good with his teammates, been encouraging at times,” Scott said. “But at times, just like you know he will, and great players do, he’s going to get on some players’ butts.”
“His blowup, to me, in the ’80s that’s a normal practice,” Scott said about Kobe recently yelling at his teammates during practice. “That’s how we used to go at each other. And it was fun.”
Bryant told reporters after the game that if teammates can’t take his style of leadership, “you don’t belong here.” He added, “If it doesn’t [break you], then you’ll win championships.”
Scott Confused Over Flagrant
Carlos Boozer was hit with a flagrant 1 foul after shoving Pacers center Roy Hibbert to the floor, and coach Scott said he didn’t agree with the call.
“I asked all three referees to explain to me what a flagrant foul is from now, because I have no clue. I really don’t,” Scott said, reported ESPN.
“I haven’t looked at it, either. They told me it was unnecessary, basically, pushing him down, as far as what he did. I said, it’s still a push. But college ball is more aggressive than we are and much more physical than the NBA right now.
“My assessment of a flagrant foul is anything above the shoulder — not necessarily going for the ball — but anytime you hit a guy above the shoulder, that’s supposed to be a flagrant foul. So like I said, I have no clue what a flagrant foul is. Ed [Davis] got hit above the shoulders the other night, so I don’t know.”
Kobe agreed, saying it should have been a technical foul at most.
Lin ‘Relaxed’
Kobe Bryant recently said Jeremy Lin “just needs to relax,” but the guard says he has been doing just that.
I really think the last while I’ve been pretty relaxed. Smiling a lot more on the court, regardless of what’s really going on,” Lin told Lakers Nation.
“I’m really learning to enjoy everything more. Even though things might not be changing or might not have changed, you can still change how you feel about stuff or your perspective.”
Lin added, though, that he doesn’t want to get too relaxed, as he wants to maintain being aggressive.
Lin had 10 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists, and 1 steal in 22 minutes, and he and other bench players earned praise from Kobe.
