Kobe Bryant, Father Time and the end of an era

Bryant traveled from Denver to Los Angeles on Sunday to see family, according to multiple sources.

But Durant became less talkative surrounding his dinner with Bryant on Friday night in Oklahoma City.

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) – Kobe Bryant may not have made the difference.

Scott said he wasn’t sure whether the dunk against the Rockets is the reason Bryant’s shoulder is sore. Ibaka had 12 points, Adams and Morrow had 10 apiece, Dion Waiters had 11 points, and Enes Kanter had 19 points and 14 boards off the bench. The Lakers shot 34 percent from the field tonight while the Thunder shot 54 percent. Guard Jordan Clarkson scored 15 points as L.A. dropped to 4-23.

He said the top five teams he played against were Sacramento in the early 2000s, Boston in 2008, Detroit in 2004 and Chicago when he entered the league in 1996 and San Antonio nearly any year. “Being assured that there is a light at the end of the tunnel by guys that have gone through it and that are champions, you can always hold on to that if you continue to work on your craft and practice hard, compete, there’s going to come a time when you get over that hump”.

The Lakers are paying Bryant $25 million this season and somehow squeezing revenue from it while following up last season’s heinous 21-61 record with an even worse 4-22 start. In the six games before missing Saturday’s game in Oklahoma City, Bryant has averaged 18.83 points on 48.8 percent shooting, 5.5 rebounds and four assists in 29.33 minutes per contest. It also included 2013-14 NBA MVP Kevin Durant. His first came a little more than 3 minutes into the game to cap an 8-0 Thunder run. The Thunder did a good job of shutting down everyone else, which allowed them to take a 67-41 halftime advantage. Neither played in the fourth quarter. “You look flat-out scared”, Scott said. At his age, with his flight time being less and less, one would expect his assists to steadily climb, but when the rest of the team is struggling, it does not matter how open they are when Bryant passes them the rock, they need to feed off of his game I.Q. and capitalize, or why even play the game?

The Lakers are in an awkward stage of rebuilding and saying farewell to one of the best players to ever don their purple and gold jerseys, which has resulted in some questionable personnel decisions from head coach Byron Scott. “If they did, we’d be the first team in history with a bunch of 20-year-olds that would have gotten it before anybody else”.

For one night, the Lakers forgot they are the worst team in the Western Conference.

The league is transitioning to more of a small ball type play and players are expected to be versatile and be well rounded on both ends of the floor.