After their second consecutive loss to start this season, the Los Angeles Lakers are looking for answers in hopes of turning things around quickly.
Kobe Bryant spoke about himself needing to take a step back and let the young kids grow and head coach Byron Scott agrees with him.
According to ESPN’s Baxter Holmes, Scott said that if Kobe tries to take over they will never find out what they have in the young players:
“If he tries to take over every single time, then it’s not going to do [our young players] any good. You’ve got to see what they’re made of.”
It sounds as if coach and player are on the same page which is definitely a good thing. Surely it won’t be an overnight thing for Kobe to just cede control as he has been the main player on the Lakers for more than 10 years, but the fact that he understands it needs to happen is a good sign.
So far, the person who looks most ready to take over is Jordan Clarkson, who is second behind Kobe averaging 18 points so far. That is to be expected, however, as he is the only one of the three main young players with NBA experience. Julius Randle followed a solid opener with a dud in his second game, while D’Angelo Russell improved in his second game after taking over lead ballhandler duties.
Whatever the case may be, the main focus of the Lakers this season is developing the young players into the core that will lead this team back to championship contention. That sentiment is seems to be shared throughout the entire organization.