While the Lakers burn, Kobe Bryant just keeps shooting and laughing

The Lakers, as expected, became the instrument with which the Warriors made NBA history Tuesday night, falling 111-77 to make Golden State 16-0. No Laker played very well, but Kobe Bryant played very not well, as he’s done a number of times this season. Kobe’s seen way too much to be bent out of shape about that, though:

Unless you revel in their misery (which you very well might), the Lakers have been totally grim and unapproachable this season, with perhaps one exception: off-court Kobe.

“I’m not really worried about it, honestly. I mean it’s -- you know, my shooting could be better. It will be better. but I could have scored 80 tonight, and it wouldn’t have made a damn difference, you know what I’m saying? We just have bigger problems. I could be out there averaging 35 points a game. We’d be what, 3-11? You know what I’m saying? So, we’ve got to figure out how to play systematically.”

Kobe’s always been a good quote, but this version of him -- wise, and frankly resigned -- fascinates me, especially as it contrasts with his performance on the floor. He’s now the Old Guy Who Tells It Like It Is, making people laugh with lines about how he “sucks” and is the 200th best player in the NBA, and how playing ball makes him so sore he can barely walk to his car. And now, above, he’s the guy who argues quite rightly that even prime Kobe couldn’t save this poorly-coached, semi-articulated version of the Lakers. With neither care nor filter, he appraises himself and the team as well as anyone. Kobe’s the Lakers’ most famous player and their best beat writer, too.

... which is fun, because 37-year-old Kobe’s lack of filter extends to the court. The man who chuckles about how much he sucks and laments his sore bones has not stopped pursuing greatness. Kobe’s usage is absurdly high -- he’s shooting just as frequently as he did in his MVP season, but scoring far less. His shot selection this season is like a final, deleterious act of defiance in a career defined (positively!) by such an approach.

Kobe Bryant is washed. He knows it, he smiles about it, and he continues gunning just the same. Why not? Life is short and the Lakers’ ills run deep. My main question now is what happens when Kobe does get hot and muster one vintage performance, because part of me wonders if he’ll call it a career at that very moment. Imagine Kobe scoring 30 and drilling a contested game-winning jumper, then just striding off the court, through the tunnel and straight out of the Staples Center into the darkness of the night, still wearing his jersey, never to be seen there again.

Lakers Nation presents: Byron Scott defended Kobe’s shot selection this week