The Lakers fell to the Orlando Magic last night in another lifeless performance from the star-studded Los Angeles team. After the game Kobe Bryant called out Pau Gasol, who once again sat out crunch-time in the final quarter, but Bryant said it’s up to the Spaniard to prove to Mike D’Antoni why he should be on the floor late in games. He told Gasol to put his ‘big boy’ pants on.
“Put your big-boy pants on,” Bryant said after the Lakers’ 113-103 loss to the Orlando Magic on Sunday that dropped the team’s record to 8-9. “Just adjust. Just adjust. You can’t whine about it. You can’t complain about it.”
Gasol maintained after the game that he’s not irritated by the benching, but Bryant insists that the insipid performances from the Lakers will not continue, and that changes need to be made.
“There’s no excuses to be made, there’s no whining. No putting your head down. We’re here, we have the talent to make adjustments, we have to make them. Period. …
“I’ll kick everybody’s ass in this locker room if that doesn’t happen. That’s the attitude that you have to have. Metta (World Peace) is the same way. Dwight (Howard) has that in him as well. Even though he smiles a lot, he still cares a lot about this thing. Like I said, come hell or high water, it has to get done.”
