Kobe Bryantdoesn’t really want to take, and still can’t really make, a jump shot.
Mike D’Antoni delivered an effective clear-the-air, unifying message to the team at the morning shootaround, then raved about Pau Gasol’s improvement, and the team still went on to a 25-point loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Gasol then pointed away from Oklahoma City and to the next game, against the 10-13 Charlotte Bobcats on Saturday, as the “big game.”
There’s your context for just how far the Los Angeles Lakers are from winning their next NBA championship.
But when I asked Bryant late Friday night if the Lakers’ 0-3 record and overall ugliness since he returned from his Achilles tendon rupture have detracted from what was supposed to be a joyous comeback, he brought up how far the Lakers are from something else.
“I’m not worried about it, to be honest with you,” Bryant said. “We’ve seen worse. I mean, we forget kind of what we had to go through last year. I’m not really too concerned about it. Our heart is in the right place.
“I saw a lot of positives. We’ve just got to put it together for longer stretches. We’ll be fine.”