Kobe Bryant Trying To Lead Lakers By Example

Things have become so bad for the Los Angeles Lakers early in the 2014 NBA season, the team has already been reduced to a nightly punchline by TNT analyst Charles Barkley.

Even as The Round Mound of Rebound continues to insist he will refrain from eating until the Lakers win at least one game, Kobe Bryant vows to remain as committed to the process as he’s been to it from the outset.

“It’s a learning process but it’s very, very frustrating,” Bryant said of the Lakers’ season-opening five straight losses. “It’s upsetting, but we have to stay determined.”

In that regard, the 36-year-old, surefire Hall of Famer seems to trying to lead by example.

“I think he’s been very patient, as far as dealing with his teammates,” said rookie Lakers coach Byron Scott said. “Kobe’s amazing. I think everyone in the league now sees that he still has a lot left in the tank.”

At 27.6 points per game, Bryant leads the Lakers in scoring and is fourth in rebounding (5.2) and third in assists (2.8). In the team’s 112-106 loss to the Phoenix Suns earlier this week, he logged 44 minutes, yet shortly thereafter was back at the team’s practice facility, assuring Scott he was willing to turn what was planned as a film day to a day of full-blown practice in hopes of soon turning things around.

“I see times where we’re doing it the way that we want to do it and then I see times where we’re not. It’s just a matter of finding that consistency where we can do it for 48 minutes.”

More often than not, those times are the moments when Bryant has been on the floor and with the ball in his hands. Already this season, Bryant has finished with at least 28 points in three different games.

But none of it has been enough for the Lakers to claim their first victory. And Scott seems to fear it might not be, not until the team makes at least a few more fundamental changes.

“There was a timeout last game where I pointed at Kobe and said, ‘I know how great this guy is, but … 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 be afraid to fail,'” he said.