Maybe Dwight is sleep, so the messages aren’t serving their intended purpose? The Lakers are a mess and it is getting close to the time to raise the white flag.
Can’t just blame one person, but it appears they maybe jumped the gun on firing Mike Brown unless they knew for sure they were going to get Phil Jackson.
Once that didn’t happen their season has really spiraled out of control. Reality is starting to set in on Kobe.
“Obviously, this isn’t working,” Bryant told Yahoo! Sports.
On the issue of Howard’s belief that the ball simply doesn’t go through him enough on offense, Bryant rejected the premise.
“I’ve tried to go out of my way to get him the ball,” Bryant told Y! Sports. “Sometimes I end up looking like an idiot, because I get up in the air, I’ve got a shot, but I try to find him. But he thinks I’m going to shoot, so his back is turned. I’m trying to think about getting him the ball a lot – take care of him as much as I possibly can. It takes me out of rhythm a little bit, but I’m fine with that. If that’s going to help our team, I’m more than willing to do that.”
When Howard did get the ball on Monday, he missed four of eight free throws. He let the Bulls strip him. He missed three of his five shots. His aggression seems to come and go, on offense and defense. Perhaps it’s the back; perhaps it’s something else.
“I’ve constantly tried to help him out, tried to talk to him,” Bryant said. “Two o’clock in the morning, three o’clock in the morning. Texting him. Sharing reading materials. Anything to try and help him.
“He’s coming off a major surgery in a market where it’s just merciless; where there’s demands and responsibilities of athletes. It’s been tough on him.”
I don’t know if it is Dwight’s health or motivation, but he doesn’t look like the same player. It could be a combination of both, but he might be one and done in LA.