Kobe Bryant is not happy about pundits questioning his influence on the Lakers past, present and future.
After the Lakers 118-111 loss to the Clippers, Bryant was asked about Jeremy Lin, and any adjustments the point guard would need to make trying to play alongside Bryant.
Bryant told the media that “Lin has to assert himself,” or “he’ll run him over.”
“You have to be able to assert yourself,” he said, “especially on a team that I’m playing on — especially on a team I’m playing on. “Because I don’t want chumps, I don’t want pushovers. If you’re a chump and a pushover, I will run over you.
So it’s important for him to have that toughness and to say no ‘I believe in myself, I can step up I can make these plays I can perform and I think that is very very important.”
And the importance of waving Bryant off sometime? Huge, according to Bryant.“It’s like, you’ve got to put your mark down, man. At some point, you’ve got to piss on the fire hydrant.”
Bryant admitted that he’s talked to Lin about some of the trials he and Knicks head coach Derek Fisher experienced.
“I told Jeremy I said you know me and (Derek Fisher) used to yell at each other all the time,” he added. “I mean all the time. And I couldn’t love a teammate more. I think that’s part of the process of figuring it out…”