Kobe Bryant eyes Olympics swan song

“We’re going to talk again”.

Instead, the fans got 48 minutes of Nick Young on one end, Hassan Whiteside on the other and a whole lot of 3-pointers and Metta World Peace in the middle.

As Los Angeles Lakers shooting guard Kobe Bryant continues to play his 20 year in the National Basketball Association, it is popular belief that this is actually his farewell tour.

But there was one last trash-talking exchange with Spike Lee, one more series of man-to-man showdowns with Carmelo Anthony, a chance to see former teammate Derek Fisher blow his cool and one more opportunity to run the floor in a building in which he played the first game in his iconic career. “I think it’d be awesome”.

Bryant appears adamant about wanting to secure a roster spot and will likely do everything within his power to do so when the time comes. He tore his left Achilles tendon in April 2013 and rehabbed for the next eight months.

But that doesn’t mean Kobe will simply fade away this season as head coach Byron Scott said Kobe will still give his 100 percent night in and night out.

Bryant, who had right shoulder surgery last season, wore a purple long-sleeved shirt under his jersey in the first half.

Already in his 20th season with the Lakers, questions have abounded whether this year will be his last with the team and in the league.

On the season, the Los Angeles Lakers average 104.3 points, 42.3 rebounds and 17.8 assists per game.

This is a big shift in thinking as Bryant had stated back in January of 2014 that he was finished playing worldwide basketball.

“I’m really relying on him to kind of tell me how he feels body-wise and energy-wise”, Scott said.

“When he says he can’t go, you know he’s hurting”, Scott told reporters in Miami. And worse, he did not carry his team to a win; the Lakers lost to the Knicks, 99-95. The Knicks however came out after half time and won the third quarter to take a 71-70 lead into the final break.

“The game gets tight and then we get tight with it”, Scott said. “That is lack of experience and youth”.

Lou Williams (14 points) and Jordan Clarkson (12) hit double figures, while D’Angelo Russell and Julius Randle struggled against the veteran Heat. It would be hard to find a six-game stretch in the Hall of Fame career of Bryant where he shot that poorly over a six-game stretch.