Kobe Bryant's plans won't change with one Lakers win
LOS ANGELES — Kobe Bryant didn't do cartwheels out of the Staples Center on Sunday night, when his Los Angeles Lakers won for the first time in six tries this season by downing the Charlotte Hornets 107-92.
It was Nov. 9, for Magic's sake, meaning a win of any kind this time of year has about as much grand-scheme-of-things-value as all that chatter about how he might wind up finishing his storied career in a different jersey. With every lopsided loss, the Lakers starting the season 0-5 and sitting dead-last in the league in terms of average margin of defeat (14.8 points per game), the chatter within NBA circles about how Bryant might wind up retiring in a different jersey continued to grow even after he claimed it was nonsense.
And as Bryant said afterward, when he strolled out of the familiar loading dock with all the exuberance of an arena worker who just logged a 12-hour day, his loyalty to the Lakers wouldn't have changed had their season ended with the kind of 0-82 record that, at times, had almost seemed possible.
"It's not going to happen," Bryant told USA TODAY Sports when asked if the temptation to change teams might still grow from here. "It's not going to happen. You go through the good times, you've got to go through the bad times."
Never, not even if these next two seasons in which he'll be paid a combined (and controversial) $48 million are nothing short of miserable?
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"It's not going to happen," he continued after finishing with 21 points, six rebounds and four assists against the Hornets,. "I have a no-trade clause. (Lakers governor) Jeanie (Buss) and (Lakers executive vice president of basketball operations) Jimmie (Buss) aren't sending me anywhere."
As for the idea that he might play beyond those two seasons, one that was endorsed by Jeanie Buss in a recent interview with USA TODAY Sports when she expressed a desire to re-sign Bryant after his current contract is done, Bryant isn't seeing it. For better or worse, he reiterated as he has in the past, this 19-season marriage that has brought him far more joy (five championships) than it has pain will be over after the 2015-16 campaign.
"Nah, not really," he said with a grin and a shake of the head when asked if he can envision playing beyond his current contract. "But I'm so loyal to this organization, there's not a chance (of him leaving)…I've been really fortunate to win a lot of games here, a lot of championships here. You can't (expletive) with (that)."
Instead, he'll focus on the seemingly-unconquerable task at hand. While the win against the Hornets helped the Lakers eliminate all the increasing hype that surrounded their losing streak, it changes nothing of the fact that it will be a trying season. The Western Conference waits for no team, and this week's schedule — road games against the Memphis Grizzlies on Tuesday and New Orleans Pelicans on Wednesday before hosting the defending champion San Antonio Spurs on Friday — is evidence enough.
The Lakers will be heavy underdogs in every game, with Jeremy Lin, Carlos Boozer and the rest trying to find the kind of rhythm that has evaded them early on. Yet, true to his fiery form, Bryant still can see this sinking ship somehow staying afloat.
Like Bryant, first-year coach Byron Scott will continue to envision a purple-and-gold world in which the Lakers somehow find a way to make Sunday night's result the norm again. The losing streak is over, but a winning streak this is not. Not yet, anyways.
Scott was pleased to get off the proverbial schneid, but was also quick to point out that he wouldn't be throwing a party to celebrate his long-overdue first win in his new position.
"Maybe later tonight (he'll reflect on it)," Scott said. "Right now, it's just a win and we've got 76 more of these things to go. That's a lot of games left. It's just a win. I know the city and everybody probably feels pretty good about it, but like I said, from game one to game six, we've gotten better, and that's the whole thing about this process — just keep getting better as a basketball team."
Bryant, who is averaging 26.5 points (on 39.4% shooting), 5.3 rebounds, and three assists per game thus far, agrees.
"It's a process," he said. "Just focus on the process. We did some things today, made some conscious adjustments, played a little bit better, and now we just continue to make those adjustments."
