To place the entire weight of Los Angeles' failures upon his shoulders would be unscrupulous, yet to exonerate him from any blame in the matter would be equally improper. Everyone on the Lakers, from Kobe to Dwight Howard to Pau Gasol, has had a hand (or two) in this fiasco.
But where blame for their shortcomings can be dispersed, credit for Kobe's abrupt evolution cannot.
While 34-year-olds and 17-year veterans are supposed to be past evolving and adjusting, Bryant has proven to be an exception. His transition from serial shooter to the primary playmaker has sparked an uprising in the Land of Make Believe at a time when we all thought the Lakers would be forced to do just that—make believe they could win.
Over the last two games, Bryant has averaged 17.5 points, nine rebounds, 14 assists and—get this—11 field-goal attempts. If that's not noteworthy, I'm not sure anything is.
Including the last two contests, Kobe has taken fewer than 15 shots just six times, and he's averaging 21.6 attempts a night on the season. To say he's taken on a new role would be a gross understatement. And to attribute the Lakers' recent coupling of victories to anything other than this new role would be utterly incorrect.
Though Bryant would have us believe (via J.A. Adande of ESPN.com) that Los Angeles' newfound embrace of collective confrontation is the driving force behind the team's sudden rise to competency, Gasol has other ideas.
"We're doing a real good job of holding each other accountable," Bryant said. "That makes a big difference."
"When he distributes the ball like that, guys are ready to catch it," Lakers forward Pau Gasol said. "He sets everybody up and sets up such a good energy on offense and it carries over to the defensive end. It's worked great."
