It is no secret that Kobe Bryant has struggled thus far in the 2015-16 season. The 20 year veteran and Laker legend has shot a measly 32% from the field in his first five games since returning from shoulder surgery. As such, Bryant has been the subject of much criticism. According to him, however, that criticism has not been entirely justified (via Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports):
I get held to much higher standards than most of my peers. If I have a bad shooting night, it’s, ‘He’s in the grave. He’s in the coffin.’ Look around the league, and other players have bad shooting nights – and it’s just a bad shooting night. But the expectations that they have for me, they’re actually something that I appreciate. Achilles injury. Fractured knee. Torn shoulder. Twentieth year in the league. Thirty-seven years old. All that, and the expectations are that I average 30 points.
While Kobe has a point, it has become increasingly apparent that his struggles cannot be explained by simply saying he is having a bad shooting night. To his credit, however, the shooting guard is trying to use those expectations to his benefit, while attempting to prove that he can still meet those expectations:
But I appreciate those standards, because it’s something that still pushes me, still drives me. Let’s see what I can do.
Meanwhile, Kobe has taken to becoming a mentor. While he has certainly done so for the young players on his own team, namely D’Angelo Russell, he has also done the same to some capacity for young players on other teams. According to Wojnarowski, the Brooklyn Nets got Bryant to meet with rookie Rondae Hollis-Jefferson so that he could learn some small tidbits of information from his idol.
Fans of the NBA are sitting on the edge of their seats to see if Bryant can improve enough to give us one more great seasons. After all, the end of his career may be near:
Kobe: "If you asked me today, I'd say this would be my last year. But you never know."
— Mike Bresnahan (@Mike_Bresnahan) November 7, 2015
