Hey Kobe, maybe you’re fatigued because you lead the NBA in field goal attempts

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After two straight close losses in which Kobe Bryant shot a combined 11-45, Kobe admitted that he was physically fatigued.

“Yea, didn’t have my legs,” Kobe said. “It’s pretty frustrating. Got to figure it out.”

Figure what out? What’s there to figure?!

That’s one of the most frustrating about Kobe Bryant; even at 36, on the comedown of his career, he still doesn’t seem to know how (or want) to make the game easier… for himself or his teammates.

Even after 19 seasons, Kobe Bryant is still so arrogant and self-involved that the idea that his forcing shots may not be a good thing for the Lakers is lost on him.

Even in the face of a horrendous shooting percentage of 37.2% (and 27% from three), he is undeterred. Here’s the kicker, even with a sub 38% shooting percentage from the field, Kobe is still chucking up the most field goal attempts in the league — shooting a league high 22.4 shots a game.

LaMarcus Aldridge and Russell Westbrook are 2nd and 3rd, shooting 19.7 and 19.6 shots a game, but they’re both shooting around 46% — almost 10% higher than Kobe Bryant.

It’s well-documented (by me) that I abhor Kobe Bryant, but I am willing to admit that the Lakers need his experience down the stretch of games. The problem is that by the time the game winds down, Kobe doesn’t have enough in the tank like he used to.

So why doesn’t he become more of a facilitator? A decoy so he doesn’t exhaust himself in the second and third quarters?

Every once in a while, Kobe will take a team-oriented approach, but within the same game or sometime during the next game, he’ll revert to his selfish ways.

There’s nothing in Kobe’s history he’s even considering taking 4-5 fewer shots a game (much less 5-7 fewer shots) this year. Taking fewer shots during the course of the game would allow him to have more lift when the Lakers actually need him to take a tough shot and those shots would allow his teammates to get in a rhythm (so they can have a little bit of a flow when they finally get the fucking ball — instead of being cold from being locked out of the offence).

Nah. Kobe will keep doing Kobe until he retires; going for his because he’s convinced himself and legions of fans that the next shot is going in. Even if he hasn’t come close to sniffing 50% shooting and only reached 40% shooting twice in the last ten games. He convinced himself of that against the Sacramento Kings:

Kobe Bryant arrogantly believes that a Kobe Bryant contested 16-foot fadeaway is ALWAYS the better option. Better than a Carlos Boozer post up, Jordan Hill midrange shot, Jeremy Lin drive, or a Nick Young iso.

Unfortunately, that’s what the Lakers are stuck with until he retires.

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