Age is causing Kobe Bryant’s legs to wither but remains no match for his will. He’ll skip shootarounds, sit out practices and be preserved like the valued and dissipating commodity he is.
Bryant was an opening force Wednesday night, the one-man show half the attendees came to see in Verizon Center. He scored 15 points in the first quarter. Had 20 at the half.
However, he did not score a second-half field goal. The Wizards bumped and slowed Bryant during a 111-95 win, their third consecutive, much to the dissatisfaction of what was in significant part a pro-Lakers crowd.
The Lakers are not good. More than ever, they are reliant on Bryant on offense. As a group, they appear to not have heard of defense, let alone been schooled in its principles.
“There was no defense,” Wizards center Marcin Gortat said. “We just played our game. They let us do a lot of different things. I can’t tell you anything about their defense. They didn’t stop anything.”
From the start, a late-arriving crowd backed Bryant, who finished with 29 points. His first pivot to the baseline for a baseline fadeaway jumper he’s been shooting in the world’s most difficult league for 18 years drew an audible response. Fans sustained an “ohhh” as the ball arced toward the basket. A burst of cheers followed its drop into the net.
The Wizards took lithe Bradley Beal off Bryant and sicced Paul Pierce on him. It was an effective change. The reason for Pierce’s success may have been familiarity. Much of Bryant’s offensive tool box is similar to Pierce’s. When Pierce explained where Bryant liked to go offensively, he could well have been talking about himself.
“Just try to push him out a little farther and get him out of his comfort zone,” Pierce said. “Obviously, he likes the elbows and the baselines. I just tried to put a little more body on him and makes his catches a little tough and just want to make him work. He’s so great. He has great footwork with getting off the shot … and don’t go for his pump fakes.”
Michael Jordan had taught Pierce how to angle off a player in the mid-post in order to snuff out the chance of a jab step. After taking that away, Pierce wanted to body Bryant and challenge at the high point of release. He blocked Bryant’s first fadeaway attempt. The two were taking shortly after.
“We’ve known each other for so long,” Bryant said. “It was refreshing to see someone that came up in my era that is still playing. We come from the same generation; we are probably like the only ones in the league that can trash talk.”
Bryant is a walking basketball deity. The Lakers will have him this season and next before they expect a convergence. Los Angeles coach Byron Scott explained before the game he sat with general manager Mitch Kupchak and executive vice president of basketball operations Jim Buss in the summer when interviewing for the job talking of the pending issues. The trio knew this season would filled with potholes at best, dynamite at worst. Everyone, including Scott and the ever-battling Bryant would have to manage the bitterness of inevitable losses.
“I think anybody who has won championships, when you lose, it should hurt,” Scott said. “I think most of the guys in that room — I know No. 24 hurts. We end texting each other almost every night until like 2 in the morning until I finally text him, like, ’Go to bed.’ Because I’m hurting just like he’s hurting. That’s the thing I love about him.”
The Lakers will try to convince Bryant there is reason to rejoin them after the 2015-16 season. This year will be brutal — the Lakers are already 5-14 — next year should be better, then, they hope, a glorious return to livelihoods Scott and Bryant are accustomed when working as Lakers employees. Days of rings, parades and banners are expected to come back.
“Listen, you guys have watched him play,” Scott said. “He’s got a lot left in that tank and I think if we put something together that excites him, I think we have a real good chance of saying, ’Play another year and give it a shot.’ That’s what we plan to do.
“The biggest question going into the season was if he can still play at a high level. The question’s been answered. Answered big-time. He has a lot left in that tank. It’s just a matter of how much more he wants to play. Does he want to play to the end of that contract and wait and see what we do and decide to play another year? I’m sure it’s going to come down to that.”
Those talks stand irrelevant to the Wizards. Another night of shared duty produced their third consecutive win. Kris Humphries had 20 rebounds. John Wall had a season-high 15 assists. Bradley Beal scored 27 points. Among the few detriments was that Nene, his right foot still aching from plantar fasciitis, watched from the bench for the fifth consecutive game. Pierce also left late in the third quarter because of a jammed big toe. He is day-to-day.
As is Bryant. He appeared sapped in the second half. With Pierce in the lockerroom, Rasual Butler guarded Bryant. The Wizards doubled him on occasion. The fear his presence still produces was apparent.
“With a player of Kobe’s magnitude, a nine-point lead is not something to be comfortable with,” Buter said.
The reverence was most apparent when Wall was called for a clear-path foul against Bryant. The referees went over to watch replays on television monitors to be sure a clear-path foul was the right decision. The video rolled on the big screen simultaneously. What became clear was that Bryant independently tripped. So erroneous was the call, that Lakers forward Carlos Boozer blew kisses to the booing fans during the replays. Wizards players chuckled. Bryant winked at Wall, a quick squeeze of his eyelid reminding the youngster just how things go once you have five championships and 16 All-Star appearances.
But, it was Wall shimmying on the floor at the end. Bryant had fouled him. His forceful 3-pointer went off the glass, bounced, then through the basket. Wall smiled, rolled his shoulders and was helped up by a teammate and Bryant. The Wizards are not concerned about Lakers lore or legends. They are trying to create their path. Wednesday night, it went through Bryant.
• Todd Dybas can be reached at tdybas@washingtontimes.com.
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