A cerebral, calculated, driven, motivated and passionate player in the NBA is a rarity and in today’s league, it appears there is only one man who has been like this for the majority of his career. Kobe Bryant is one of a kind and he’s the type of player, even as his career comes to an end, that players would love to play with but hate to play against.
It’s been like that for a while and even the new kids coming into the NBA have caught on to the trend of Kobe’s dominating personality. There have been stories throughout the years about Kobe’s strong personality and how it might affect his teammates, even in practice, but it seems to be exactly what two draft prospects might be ready for. Karl-Anthony Towns and Emmanuel Mudiay seem ready and willing to do whatever it takes to play with Bryant.
TMZ Sports hounded down Karl-Anthony Towns and Julius Randle enjoying a lunch in Los Angeles when Towns was in the Los Angeles area doing a workout.
Towns expressed his interest in playing with Bryant by saying,
That’s a legend. Of course everyone wants to play with a legend.
Towns, when asked if he’s worried about Kobe’s tough judgement on teammates.
No, that’s what we gotta do to win a championship.
Mudiay and Towns appear to share the same sentiments, according to Mark Medina of the Los Angeles Daily News.
Emmanuel Mudiay on possibly playing w/ Kobe Bryant: “I’m competitive just as much as he’s competitive. He wants to win. I want to win.”
And then said the following according to Serena Winters of Lakers Nation.
Mudiay: “Kobe, I admire his determination. That’s what made me a fan. He got a dog in him & that’s kind of how I approach the game.”
For the Lakers, if you bring in Towns he could immediately be your starting center. Especially considering that Jordan Hill and Ed Davis, the 2 main options for LA at the center position, could hit the free agency market this summer. So he could come in, play alongside Kobe and whatever talent they bring it. Rajon Rondo, Kevin Love or anyone else the Lakers are ‘reportedly’ interested in.
Mudiay though could be a contingency plan for LA. He can absolutely start at point guard for LA, putting Clarkson on the bench – where he might end up being most effective in his NBA career – and put Mudiay in the backcourt alongside Bryant. Mudiay’s size and athleticism also allows him to learn from Kobe and get to know how to play that shooting guard position, which could be what Mudiay ends up developing into as his career in the NBA moves along.
Either pick for LA would be great and could play dividends now along with the future. They can both absolutely ball and they both could be a piece that fills a need for the team in order to win as soon as possible.
