Kobe Wants The Scoring Crown
Added on Apr 26, 2012 by Jack Thurman in
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The Western Conference playoff seeds are set and like many teams heading to the postseason the Los Angeles Lakers will rest their starters on Thursday night. With one exception–the ‘Black Mamba’ himself, Kobe Bryant, will likely be on the court as the lone starter among a bunch of reserves. And why would a five time NBA champion be out there in the meaningless final game of the year? Because he’s looking to catch Kevin Durant for the NBA scoring title.
Here’s the situation–Kobe will enter Thursday’s game against the Sacramento Kings averaging 27.86 points per game. That’s second in the league behind Oklahoma City’s Kevin Durant who has a 28.03 points per game average. Durant is done for the year and my statistical experts have informed me that Kobe will need to put up 38 points to claim the scoring title. Head coach Mike Brown, who clearly knows which side his bread is buttered on, affirmed that it’s up to Kobe whether he plays or not without mentioning him by name:
“We’ll probably rest guys, but it won’t just be me saying, ‘Hey, I’m going to sit you down. I give guys some ownership in this.”
Kobe will make a final decision on whether or not he’ll play after Thursday’s shootaround. He’s only been back in the lineup for a few games after recovering from a nagging shin injury but he’s not going to use that as an excuse:
“I’m not on vacation. I was hurt. If I’m healthy, I play.”
Kobe has some issues, but no one has ever doubted his commitment to the game and fierce competitive drive. He’s taken some criticism about ‘putting stats first’ but another superstar from a different sport gets it–L.A. Dodgers’ manager Don Mattingly:
“If you ask (Derek) Jeter, down at the end of the year and we had a four- or five-game lead, he wants to play because he wants to stay sharp. Is that wrong? Some people will say he should’ve taken the rest.”
“I like Kobe. He’s a killer to me, under pressure. He’s one of those guys that wants the ball. He’s hit so many big shots.”
Of course the chattering classes in the mainstream sports media will yammer on about this and no doubt criticize Kobe but here’s the deal–he’s a hyper competitive guy. He’s not going to leave the scoring title there for Durant to win. It’s not that stats are more important it’s just the way he’s wired. It’s also why he has a fistful of NBA Championship rings.
