It is a good thing that Kobe Bryant is healthy because so far he is the only one contributing for the Los Angeles Lakers. After losing both Steve Nash and Julius Randle for the season and starting the year without Nick Young, the team has been riding the back of Bryant and so far the results are not good. Having yet to win a game, Bryant is looking for some help from his teammates while the head coach Byron Scott considers limiting his minutes.
According to ESPN's Stats & Info, Bryant has taken 122 of the team's 324 field goal attempts which is the highest among NBA players through Thursday's games. Bryant currently leads the NBA in scoring with 27.6 points per game. In terms of shots taken, he leads the likes of Carmelo Anthony, Blake Griffin and Stephen Curry. This issue is that he is only shooting 40.2 percent as he remains the main target of the defense and Scott is looking for balance in the team.
"I think there was a timeout last game where I pointed at Kobe and I said, 'I know how great this guy is, but you guys have got to play basketball,'" Scott said, via ESPNLosAngeles.com. "'You can't look at him every single time and try to give him the ball. You've got to take shots that are there. You can't pass up shots.' They can't be afraid to fail. That's the biggest thing. You've just got to be able to go out there and play. I think he's done his share in trying to play that role and trying to get those guys an opportunity to play, but they've got to take advantage of it as well."
The Lakers' roster leaves a lot to be desired as a few names are not getting as involved as Los Angeles needs them to be. Starting point guard Jeremy Lin is only averaging five assists per game. Carlos Boozer is only grabbing 5.6 rebounds per game. Bryant admits that he needs to create more opportunities to get everyone involved and help create some balance on the court.
"Well, I think use a lot of guys, [Carlos] Boozer and Jeremy Lin, to create opportunities," Bryant said, "which means running [the offense] through them a lot and moving me off the ball and getting picks off the ball, as opposed to me initiating the offense and then controlling everything from there. I think it has to be Jeremy and Boozer and those guys making plays, and we're setting picks off the ball. It keeps them involved."
Wins are going to be hard to come by in the next month. The Lakers face a hard schedule in the coming weeks with the only possible wins coming from either New Orleans or Charlotte unless the roster starts to improve.
