Despite the Lakers’ 6-16 start, Kobe Bryant has remained remarkably zen this year, defying many who believed he’d quickly snap at the team’s lack of talent. Outside of an early-season disagreement with Jeremy Lin, the Lakers’ superstar has seemed understanding of the team’s predicament.
Kobe Bryant snaps after Lakers practice, calls team ‘soft like Charmin’
The Lakers’ superstar is finally cracking as his team sputters to a 6-16 start.
That is, until now. It appears a mundane practice in mid-December finally caused Kobe to hit his breaking point.
There’s much more where that came from.
Kobe extremely unhappy on the practice court. "Now I see why we've lost so many games. We're soft like Charmin!"
— Mike Bresnahan (@Mike_Bresnahan) December 11, 2014
Kobe yelled to Kupchak while leaving practice court: "These (expletives) aren't doing (expletive) for me." Didn't think team practiced hard.
— Mike Bresnahan (@Mike_Bresnahan) December 11, 2014
Kobe: "I just challenge guys, see what happens. I’ve always believed in throwing them in the pool and then seeing if they can sink or swim."
— Mike Bresnahan (@Mike_Bresnahan) December 11, 2014 Kobe during practice: "Kobe: "Practice gets real uncomfortable when I’m in this mother------."
— Arash Markazi (@ArashMarkazi) December 11, 2014 Kobe rode Lin during practice; daring him to shoot. "I talked his a-- right into that bull----. I talked his a-- right into that bull----."
— Arash Markazi (@ArashMarkazi) December 11, 2014 Best part about all of this? Kobe considered it a normal practice:
Bryant said Thursday’s practice was no different than any other one he participates in except for maybe the fact that the media got a courtside view of him trying to motivate his younger teammates.
“No, I was just being myself,” Bryant said. “I don’t know if it helps them, but it obviously raises the intensity level. It was a tough practice for them ... It’s really good for Nick, aside from the fun of bantering back and forth and the trash talk, just fundamentally some of the techniques and things that I use. He gets a chance to really see up close those little tricks.”
Tantrums happen in practices, especially on losing teams. But they often happen outside of the view of the media, who generally only gets to see the very end. It’s unclear if there was a specific moment that caused Bryant’s anger or if it really was just the team practicing lethargically.
★★★
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