As Tyler Conway of The Bleacher Report explains, Kobe Bryant hasn’t exactly asserted himself offensively and looks a bit out of sync with the rest of the guys on Team USA. He expresses skepticism on Kobe’s behalf to fully adjust to a new system with a true point guard–Steve Nash–and feels that Kobe’s play in the Olympic games will be a measure of how he will play with his new teammate.
I, however, respectfully disagree and see it from a different perspective. (I’m a biased Lakers fan, so of course I would).
Conway compares this 2012 experience with the 2008 experience, where, as he states, Kobe was the “unquestioned leader” of that team and took the most shots among his teammates (104, compared with the second-highest; LeBron James’ 83). Although Bryant took more shots than anyone, he still averaged a point less than leading scorer Dwyane Wade and was a half point behind second-leading scorer, LeBron James who averaged 16.0 and 15.5 points, respectively to Kobe’s 15.0 points.
However, Kobe’s role on that team was to be the team’s first-line perimeter defender and focus on scoring less. Additionally, Wade shot an astounding 67 percent from the field whereas James shot 60 percent. But, many of those shots came in the paint and/or transition, and many were from forced turnovers by the likes of Bryant.
Kobe–having shed 20 pounds for those Olympic games much as he shed 16 pounds for these Olympic games–spent more time around the perimeter and less time in the paint, but still managed to average 46 percent from the field and 36 percent from behind the three-point line. Those numbers, in fact, were exactly the same as his regular season numbers were in the 2007-2008 regular season–the season in which he won his first and only MVP award.
The point I am getting at here is that it doesn’t matter how Kobe is playing at the moment, because in those Olympic games, he showed he can co-exist with three of the best play-makers in the world, get his shots, and still manage to take over in crunch time the way he did in the gold medal game against Spain. The three play-makers I’m referring to are Chris Paul, LeBron James, and Deron Williams, who totaled 33, 30, and 22 assists, respectively; Kobe, in perspective, dished out a total of 17 assists in those games as well, which was fourth on the team.
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Kobe was obviously “the man” on that Olympic team along with a couple of others, but he is also “the man” on the Lakers, and I believe he can replicate what he did in those Olympic games in the regular season with Steve Nash.
Having said that, I actually do believe that Kobe has, at least for now, taken a back seat to LeBron James and Kevin Durant. I understand Conway’s concern that Bryant is a player who grew up under the read-and-react style Triangle offense just as Michael Jordan–who also never played with an All-Star point guard in his championship years–did, and may be a player who needs the ball in order to be effective, but I still believe he can and will adjust without much trouble.
Now, on to these Olympic games, which have only been played in the capacity of exhibition games. Conway reveals that he was “shocked” Bryant came in fifth with regards to shot attempts (just seven per game), and believes that Kobe is using his Olympic experience as an experiment to see how he will fare next season with another dominant ball-handler.
He explains that Kobe will likely have to alter his game, which is true, but also declares this small, sample-sized exhibition season as the indicator for what Kobe will look like next season:
He will have to re-learn how to come off down screens and knock down catch-and-shoot opportunities. Bryant will have to move without the ball to help create spacing. And he’ll have to cut down on his patented top-key isolation turnaround jumpers.
Bryant will essentially become the player we’ve seen thus far for Team USA. And the results thus far have been a mixed bag to put it kindly.
With this, I couldn’t disagree more.
Next Page: Kobe’s Role with Team USA
First of all, we have all seen Kobe play exhibition games before, and from what I’ve seen, Kobe knows how and when to pace himself. Although these exhibition games are being played on a worldwide stage, Kobe knows when the games really matter, and will undoubtedly have his moments and put his fingerprints on these Olympics. However, I don’t expect him to force anything or play outside of the system; the same way he didn’t in the 2008 games.
As for the way he’s been playing, he may seem like the “odd man out” in terms of scoring, but he is simply making the right plays. Additionally, he may not appear to be the team’s best perimeter defender anymore, but he is still tied for second with regards to steals with LeBron James (at nine total apiece, second to Chris Paul’s 13) for the exhibition games.
Back to his offense, though. Bryant scored just 8.2 points a game (which was fifth), trailing LeBron James (18.6), Kevin Durant (17.6), Carmelo Anthony (13.2), and Russell Westbrook (9.4) in the exhibition schedule. Similarly, he only has 10 assists total, but the same guys who were facilitating last time around are doing it again as James, Paul, and Williams each dished out 20 assists to lead Team USA.
However, if you’ve been watching the games, you will have noticed that Kobe has been the initiator of the offense on many occasions, and possibly has more “hockey assists” than regular assists. In other words, his decision-making once he received the ball led to easy baskets on a number of occasions.
He has basically just been casually sitting back, and as soon as he gets the ball along the perimeter and the defense commits to him, has either dished it out to a wide open Kevin Durant behind the three-point line, or backed down in the post to find a cutting LeBron James. I’m not going to sit here and act like he’s been playing like Magic Johnson or anything, but he’s been simply playing smart basketball–read and react basketball, if you will.
I personally don’t expect Kobe to score the way he did last time around, but he did have one in-rhythm game in which he put up 18 points on (on 6-12 shooting). But, in the same game, Durant dropped in 27 (on 10-15 shooting). Again, even though Kobe may not have the same role on this team as he did in the last Olympic games, I strongly disagree that his production or efficiency in these games will reflect how he’ll coexist with Steve Nash next year.
Right now, he’s on a team with other offensive juggernauts in their primes–a few of which are more explosive than he is at his age–and is not going to compromise the team by trying to get himself going; he doesn’t have those juggernauts on his Lakers team, by the way. For these games, he’s likely going to find his role on the team much like he did last time; although last time he found himself scoring as well, but it was his second focus behind defense.
As for next season, I completely believe that Kobe and Nash can and will coexist. Each will have to alter their games a bit, but it will work. Why? Because both are towards the tail end of their careers and understand they will have to play with each other in order to win. Additionally, they will make one another better. Kobe won’t have to focus on play-making for literally everyone else on the team, and Nash won’t have to either.
The benefits for Kobe will be that he’ll get much more easy shots, and will get some rest on the offensive end. To Conway’s credit, yes, Kobe will have to adjust to hitting wide open shots and moving off ball–which is something he hasn’t done much of throughout his career.
As for Nash, he will also get also get a lot more open shots than he’s used to, and may have to carry a bigger offensive load this season; which will be the adjustment to his game. With his sniper-sharp shooting, Nash will be encouraged by Bryant to be more selfish and take the wide open shots that are created by double-teams on Kobe. I am going to actually go out on a limb and say that Nash will average more points per game this season than he did last season.
Yes, Kobe will have to adjust his game to play alongside Steve Nash, but it will be a positive adjustment and one that will hopefully elongate his already legendary career.
The fact that Kobe was able to score, make plays, and coexist with three great play-makers in the 2008 Olympics should be proof enough that he can still be effective without the ball always in his hands; none of those guys complained about Kobe being too much of a ball-hog, and Dwyane Wade actually came to Kobe in the gold medal game and said “let that Mamba loose!”–which was coming from that team’s leading scorer.
However, I am not counting Kobe out of these 2012 Olympics, either. He may not be the first, second, or even third option this time around, but you better believe that the Black Mamba will put his imprint on these Olympics at some point in time.
Let the games begin.
Update: Since this article was written, one official Olympic game has been played, and Bryant actually saw his minutes drop to just 12 against France. However, he put up 10 quick points and looked more aggressive offensively. It is likely that his minutes–and assertiveness–will gradually increase as the gold medal game (assuming Team USA gets that far) approaches.