Kobe: 'I could have scored 80 ... it wouldn't have made a damn difference'
Kobe Bryant tried, but the 20-year veteran was no match for the high-flying Golden State Warriors.
Bryant shot 1-of-14 from the field for four points in the Los Angeles Lakers' embarrassing 34-point loss to the reigning champions on Tuesday.
A better performance wouldn't have made a difference, a defiant Bryant said after the game.
"I'm not really worried about it, honestly," Bryant said, according to ESPN's Baxter Holmes. "My shooting will be better. I could've scored 80 tonight. It wouldn't have made a damn difference. We just have bigger problems. I could be out there averaging 35 points a game. We'd be what, 3-11? We've got to figure out how to play systematically in a position that's going to keep us in ballgames."
Bryant was frustrated with the loss (their 12th of the young season), but he also spoke the truth about his team: The Lakers, quite frankly, are not very talented.
He's not blameless, either. Bryant is averaging 15.2 points this season on 31.1 percent shooting from the field and 19.5 percent from deep. His PER is 10.2, and yet he's using 29.5 percent of the Lakers' possessions when he takes the court.
Since the 3-point line was implemented in 1984, there have been 844 players who averaged over 16 field-goal attempts per game. Bryant ranks dead last in true shooting percentage, which makes him one of the least efficient scorers ever. He's complicit in the Lakers' terrible performance.
Bryant attributed his poor shooting Tuesday night to not getting enough help.
"In all honesty, it was tough, the shots that I take, pullup shots and jumpers and contested jumpers - those are tough shots to hit at 27," Bryant said. "It's very tough to hit at 37. I've got to do a better job of demanding some help off the ball, get some easier chances - pin-downs, picks, catch-and-shoots, things of that nature. Tonight was just very frustrating. It kind of got the better of me."
Of course, if Bryant is having a poor shooting night from the field (he's yet to shoot over 50 percent in any game this season, so that's almost every night), he could simply defer to his teammates. Most of those teammates aren't world-beaters, and it likely wouldn't matter against teams like Golden State, but no one comes close to matching Bryant's historically awful shooting performance this season.
More innovative coaching could help, too, but Lakers bench boss Byron Scott doesn't seem interested in moving away from Kobe isolations, saying Monday that due to Bryant's experience, "He has that privilege, basically."