Kobe: I want my legacy to impact future players

Seven different Oklahoma City Thunder players scored in double digits in the blowout victory, but Durant still cruised to his 13th straight game with 20 or more points.

Kobe Bryant will not play in the Los Angeles Lakers’ game against the Oklahoma City Thunder on Saturday due to a sore shoulder.

Most basketball fanatics in their mid-20s and early 30s grew up idolizing superstars Kobe Bryant, Kevin Garnett, Tim Duncan, Paul Pierce, Dirk Nowitzki and Vince Carter.

But if Bryant, a 5-time National Basketball Association champion and former league MVP, was asked to rank the top teams and players he’s gone up against, who would be on his list? “We came in at halftime and coach (Billy Donovan) said we’ve got to still stick with our principles and still play the game the right way and I think we did a good job”.

“I just took it in and I said, “Rob, I don’t rule anyone out, but it has got to be based on performance because there’s so many people who want (to be on the team); everyone wants to be on the roster”.

Lou Williams had 20 points and Jordan Clarkson 15, but the Lakers lost for the 15th time in 17 games.

Bryant has not played well at age 37 except for a recent three-game burst in which he’s averaging 23 points on commendable 53 percent accuracy.

Durant and Westbrook did play well in the victory to hand the Lakers a second consecutive defeat. That’s a fact. The golden franchise is 4-23 in its worst season ever, and its 118-78 loss against the Thunder inspires little confidence. They played the Lakers at home before Bryant’s announcement and won’t host them again. Scott added of his players, “They didn’t play well at all and really just got embarrassed by the way we played tonight”.

Twenty-three games into the regular season, the venerable Lakers star Kobe Bryant is finally starting to look like his old self. Players, like D’Angelo Russell, wanting to play a certain way, but a head coach and maybe a front office doing its best to sustain a losing framework and keep this about being Bryant’s retirement tour, as if to blur the tanking from sight. It led to Ibaka’s 3-pointer from the corner and a 30-point lead for the Thunder. The Thunder had a six-game winning streak come to an end with a loss at Cleveland on Thursday despite big games from Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook and Serge Ibaka.

Gasol, who also grabbed 12 rebounds, and Conley, who added eight assists, fueled a late run to push the Grizzlies’ lead to 14 in the closing minutes and keep the Pacers from putting together a comeback.