Lakers Have Never Seen Kobe So Patient With Teammates (Woj)

[ChokeFasncists]

http://basketball.realgm.com/wiretap/23 ... -Teammates

The Los Angeles Lakers aren't playoff contenders and Kobe Bryant hates losing, but he doesn't hate this season or this team. "The idea of me having no patience is misunderstood," Bryant told Yahoo Sports on Tuesday night. "I don't have patience when we're not putting the work in, if I see that we're not doing our job as professionals. If that's happening, I'll let my team know about it. But this is not that kind of group. We work. These guys want to get better every day. They're there early working, they're there late working.

"Now it's time for me to go out there and do my job – not whine or complain about it." Around the Lakers, they'll tell you they've never seen Bryant so patient with his teammates, so immersed in the incubation of a cross-section roster of kids, wannabes and has-beens. Yes, his shooting percentage is down. Sometimes, he's tried to do too much. This is a process for him, too.

"It's a lifestyle, an absolute around-the-clock lifestyle. There's no getting away from it. I've always enjoyed that aspect of it, the process of it, the building of it. But there will come a point when I don't anymore, and then it will be over for me."

Was gonna post it in the other thread: "Kobe Needs to Let It Go" but unfortunately it was locked:

Bryant doesn't want to talk about passing Michael Jordan on the career scoring list later this month, and scrunches his face when Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's record is mentioned. "I don't even know how many points he has," Bryant said. "I don't even care."

Now, he's standing in the locker room, knees iced and preparing to walk back into the visiting training room for more treatment. Bryant stops and insists on making his point clearer. He keeps hearing people suggest he's chasing the scoring list now, and he insists his motivation comes in the purest form every night: Am I leading this team closer to a championship mindset, to championships habits?

[Dr Aki]

run with it, maybe we can con a nice free agent player with this narrative

[mcscotty]

Kobe's just grateful to be back playing at a high level. Saw him choking up a little on the court at the end of the Raptors game. He's in a happy place despite the current situation.

[kblo247]

I think it's the hat trick

1 - they work hard. At the end of the day even when he was pissed about wasting his prime, which they did, he on am 570 Made it clear when he said I'm tired of going in early, staying late, and seeing only luke and lamar. You didn't have to be the most talented to get him to like you or respect you, see Luke and Fish, just play and work hard, just quote what Gaffney said lamar said, kobe don't like mfs like you

2 - they communicated with him. Caron was dealt and he found out on TV. He found out fish, Pau, and lamar was traded on TV. He found out they picked pringles over phil, and brown over Shaw and Adleman on TV. He doesn't feel a need to blast them because they were straight up with him about recruiting Melo, and then Nick and Hill. They didn't lead him on like in his prime when their planned window was never met. A little respect and communication goes a long way in terms of trust.

3 - he's grateful. Say what you want, but at 36, the last member of his draft class, and with more miles than any perimeter guy has had he grateful. He isn't fully all there but he sees glimpses and moves well for a guy who tore an Achilles, fractured a knee, has had multiple knee and ankle surgeries, and with arthritic hands. He works hard, and he feels good. There had to be some doubt that the game he spent his life training for would be taken away from him not on his own terms, and the thought it's not had to be great

[Slava]

Its a trap!

[Tonyism74]

I think it's the hat trick

1 - they work hard. At the end of the day even when he was pissed about wasting his prime, which they did, he on am 570 Made it clear when he said I'm tired of going in early, staying late, and seeing only luke and lamar. You didn't have to be the most talented to get him to like you or respect you, see Luke and Fish, just play and work hard, just quote what Gaffney said lamar said, kobe don't like mfs like you

2 - they communicated with him. Caron was dealt and he found out on TV. He found out fish, Pau, and lamar was traded on TV. He found out they picked pringles over phil, and brown over Shaw and Adleman on TV. He doesn't feel a need to blast them because they were straight up with him about recruiting Melo, and then Nick and Hill. They didn't lead him on like in his prime when their planned window was never met. A little respect and communication goes a long way in terms of trust.

3 - he's grateful. Say what you want, but at 36, the last member of his draft class, and with more miles than any perimeter guy has had he grateful. He isn't fully all there but he sees glimpses and moves well for a guy who tore an Achilles, fractured a knee, has had multiple knee and ankle surgeries, and with arthritic hands. He works hard, and he feels good. There had to be some doubt that the game he spent his life training for would be taken away from him not on his own terms, and the thought it's not had to be great

I think Kobe's longevity and his consistency in being mentioned as still one of the best in the league is a testament to all that he has accomplished. I remember when he was being compared to the old-timers, the new ones, and now even the younger ones...from MJ, to AI, to Francis, Marbury, TMac, Vince, Pierce, Wade, LeBron, Harden, etc.,and we're not talking just regular season...were talking the playoffs, championships etc., lots of mileage. Now if only he could take advantage of his superior passing to play elite, that would be icing on the cake.

[dockingsched]

Woj putting in work so he gets the next scoop from kobe's camp or from the lakers brass

[crazyeights]

Here's a Woj radio interview if anyone's interested:

http://kfwbam.com/2014/12/04/wojnarowski-jeremy-lin-is-a-one-year-player-with-the-lakers/