How else do you explain his comments on Kevin Love, per Serena Winters of Lakers Nation?
Bryant was laughing, according to Winters, which offers some necessary context. We didn't need an explanation to prove Bryant was speaking with tongue in cheek, but Mark Medina provided it anyway:
On the one hand, it's getting to be more and more fun to follow Bryant now that he's entering his ornery old-man phase. He'll say anything. He's past caring what the public, his coaches or his teammates think.
With Bryant, you get the unmitigated truth nowadays. And that's a rare thing from an NBA superstar.
It's hard to know if Bryant's direct nature will be a good thing for his younger teammates. His response to the Love question obviously implied he would have liked to play with the floor-spacing star, which is an indirect slight to the current roster that lacks such a talent.
Then again, maybe Bryant's challenging guys like Jordan Hill and Julius Randle to step things up. Carlos Boozer, who most NBA observers would concede is nearing the end of his days as a passable power forward, might derive motivation from Kobe's comments as well.
Bryant may not care who he offends anymore, but he remains calculated in everything he does. He has to know his words will get back to the rest of the Lakers.
Maybe there's a method to his madness. Maybe he's trying to bring the best out of the Lakers through his favored tough-love approach.
Or maybe this is just another case of a throwaway answer to a training camp question getting more attention than it deserves.
Buckle up—we've got another month of this stuff.
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Article Source: Bleacher Report - Los Angeles Lakers
