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THE L.A. LEAKERS
An Open Letter to Kobe Bryant About His Defense
By Zach Lowe on March 26, 2013 1:27 PM ET
Rocky Widner/NBAE/Getty Images

Dear Kobe Bryant,

In the middle of a playoff chase that has you clinging tenaciously to the no. 8 seed and yapping about how you have to take more control of the team’s defensive strategy, why are you doing this?

In the 71st game of your 17th season, in the midst of a “heated” playoff “race,” why are you still watching your own errant jump shot while your mark, Klay Thompson, beats you back in transition for an open 3-pointer? Thompson doesn’t exactly take off like Corey Brewer, either, and he still beats you down the floor by several steps.

Why is this still happening? It’s almost April, and Bryant and the Lakers still can’t figure out transition defense, or defense in general.

Bryant, as the whole Internet (including this corner of it) has noted repeatedly, has been an irresponsible off-ball defender all season. He gambles out of scheme whenever he feels like it, often turning his back completely to his man, and several of Washington’s 11 3s during the Lakers’ home loss to the Wiz on Friday were the direct result of Bryant deciding he didn’t want to play team defense any longer.

. If Bryant makes first or second-team All-Defense again this season, I’m officially ignoring this honor indefinitely when it comes to assessing a player’s status and career accomplishments. There will be no more “Player X has seven first-team All-Defense appearances” in this space as a way of justifying a man’s place in the NBA hierarchy. Bryant isn’t the first player coasting to undeserved All-Defense appearances based on reputation, but if he makes it again this season, it will be his most egregious appearance ever, and one of the most egregious in league history. It’s probably already time to start ignoring these honors, since Carlos Boozer received what I hope was an accidental vote last season, but Bryant’s selection would make it official.

GeneralNash wrote:I still think Kobe deserves 1st all defensive team because his on the ball defense this year is still second to none in this league. He shut down Kyrie Irving one on one...and a lot of younger quicker guys one on one to close out games.

Kilroy wrote:I thought that too for a while, but this just reeks of ineptitude, not a master plan.

Last night, after the Golden State Warriors held on late to defeat the Los Angeles Lakers after bombarding them for three quarters, Kobe Bryant decided to pick up the microphone (relatively speaking) and say a few choice words about his team's defense. He talked about the scheme. He talked about the importance of communication. He talked about the need to make adjustments. His comments were 100% accurate. There's just one problem.

Kobe Bryant has no business criticizing the team's defense. Not when he's done this. And this. And this. Those are all posts, by three different authors, two of which are born and bred Lakers fans, criticizing Kobe Bryant for his horrific defense this season. Kobe has not been a consistently awful defender, but for large swaths of the season, he has defended recklessly, idiotically, or he simply hasn't defended at all. Kobe doesn't just gamble, he plays Russian Roulette without taking out any of the bullets. He doesn't just collapse to the paint, he ball-watches as if in a hypnotic trance.

It is impossible to tell if the Lakers have a defensive scheme problem, because first and foremost, their defense has a Kobe Bryant problem. The Lakers defense has rarely been on the same page, whether Bryant is involved or not. But Kobe's defense isn't even in the same book as the rest of the team's. I don't see anybody else on the Lakers double teaming random players off the ball. I don't see too many instances of anybody else comically over-gambling the passing lanes. And at least 80% of the Lakers' most egregious cases of ball-watching (something which does happen to everybody from time to time) seem to involve Kobe Bryant as well. If any of these actions are a part of the Lakers' defensive scheme, then Mike D'Antoni should have been fired the moment he unveiled it. But, since nobody else on the team is doing this ****, it seems pretty clear that Kobe is the one breaking the defensive playbook.

Stephano wrote:Too many shots fired: Kobe's offense

Imadogg wrote:One of his followers need to do it I don't use twitter nor does he follow me

Imadogg wrote:One of his followers need to do it I don't use twitter nor does he follow me