Lakers’ weak team remains a strong draw, thanks to Kobe Bryant’s farewell

There was little hype heading into the contest, but today’s game was supposed to be a chance for National Basketball Association fans in Oklahoma City to see Lakers guard Kobe Bryant play in person before he retires at the end of the season.

Despite that occurrence, Durant came out and scored 22 points to lead Oklahoma City to a 118-78 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers at Chesapeake Energy Arena.

L.A. trailed by 46 in the final two minutes, teetering on the largest losing margin in franchise history (48).

Lakers Coach Byron Scott furthered the concept: This might take some time. “These guys looked like they were scared tonight or intimidated by (Kevin) Durant and (Russell) Westbrook”.

“(If) I feel I can make a contribution and my body is up for it, I would love to play”. Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant were spectators on the bench for the entire fourth quarter, and the largest lead of the game was 46 points. The Thunder’s offense was clicking all game long, as they shot an opponent season-high 54.8 percent from the field, while doubling L.A.’s 14 assists. “But Kobe, he’s done it, also Tim Duncan did the same”, pointed out Durant. The Lakers trailed the Houston Rockets by eight at the time and would lose by 20. Butler was 4 of 11 for 12 points a night after scoring 43, while Rose played 20 minutes and had six points on 3-of-10 shooting. “You can get excited about that”, said George Belch, chairman of the San Diego State University marketing department. “They didn’t play well at all”. Bryant has spoken glowingly about both players recently, but when the time came to pick his top five, both players got left out in the cold.

Kobe Bryant’s first dunk of the year Thursday night against the Rockets earned D’Angelo Russell a technical for leaving the bench to celebrate, but Bryant won’t pay Russell’s fine for the technical.

While Bryant might have liked to follow his father Joe Bryant’s career path in Europe, Bryant said he would still be interested in chasing a third Olympic gold medal.

Kobe: “I don’t think the basketball gods have treated me unfairly”.

“It’s just some soreness”, Scott said.

Bryant said that his soreness did not begin with his highlight dunk against Houston Thursday, instead inferring that his four consecutive missed foul shots in that game helped tip him off to his ailment.

“It’s not something that I’m absolutely pressing for”, he said, “but being a part of the Olympics is such a handsome experience”.

Injuries limited Bryant to 41 games over the past two seasons, and after appearing in 23 of the Lakers’ 27 games this season, he is nursing a sore shoulder.