The Los Angeles Lakers went 0-8 in the preseason and are 0-2 to start the regular season, but Kobe Bryant says now is not the time to panic. In fact, the five-time champion says those who are questioning the team’s slow start are being “stupid.”
“I’m always surprised when I lose,” Bryant said on Thursday, via the LA Times. “At the same time, it [the panic] is pretty entertaining to me. Nobody wants to win here more than I do. Nobody. Nobody .
“And I’m not panicking over it. Or jumping off a bridge because we’re 0-2 or whatever.”
Many people have already begun criticizing the team’s new Princeton offense. Bryant thinks the media and fans should trust the team and not worry about a few early-season losses.
“I just … I don’t understand .. the city here,” Bryant said. “They’ve seen us win multiple championships here, playing an offense that was tough to learn that was a sequence of options that weren’t set plays that took five guys being on the same page of working together,” referring to Jackson’s triangle offense.
“They know how that stuff works. For them to be so stupid now ….”
Not only are the Lakers getting used to a new offense, they’re also getting used to a new lineup. It’s the first season for the Lakers with Dwight Howard at center and Steve Nash at point guard. Things aren’t gelling as quickly for them as they did for the 2007-2008 Boston Celtics which won the title in their first year with Ray Allen and Kevin Garnett. A better comparison might be the 2010-2011 Miami Heat which went 9-8 and needed about a month before figuring things out.
The Lakers have far too many great players to not be an excellent team. They will figure things out, and they will start winning. But I also don’t think they’re properly utilizing their players right now — namely Steve Nash — and that they will be at a disadvantage until they start doing so. I also don’t think they will win the title this season. That will go to Miami in a repeat. Just don’t tell Kobe that.
