Kobe Bryant
Kobe Bryant
Kobe Bean Bryantis an American retired professional basketball player. He played his entire 20-year career with the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association. He entered the NBA directly from high school and won five NBA championships with the Lakers. Bryant is an 18-time All-Star, 15-time member of the All-NBA Team, and 12-time member of the All-Defensive team. He led the NBA in scoring during two seasons, and ranks third on both the league's all-time regular season scoring and...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionBasketball Player
Date of Birth23 August 1978
CityPhiladelphia, PA
CountryUnited States of America
I'm proud of us. We came back and played hard. We got into a big hole in the first quarter but we were able to fight back. Late in the fourth quarter, we were able to make a push and give ourselves an opportunity to win the game. Both teams played hard, it's a shame somebody had to lose.
It's such a learning curve. Once you start getting it, it usually comes at the end of the season. Everybody is pretty much in rhythm and in tune with one another, and then you start playing better.
Everyone is not jumping for joy with finally making the playoffs but it is a big accomplishment for us being that we didn't make it last year and nobody expected us to make it this year and here we are.
I have played a lot of playoff basketball and I have never had a game quite like this, with our backs against the wall, seemingly out of it, and us just battling back and getting this win. We matured about 10 to 15 years today.
If Lamar plays like that in the playoffs, it will make us very difficult to beat. When he is taking his shots in rhythm, he is a handful.
It was much harder to watch as opposed to playing in the game. I was kind of going back and forth.
At the end of the season, here we are - playing our best basketball.
They did a good job defensively. They were just crowding me and trapping me every time I came off a pick-and-roll or when I was in transition. We were playing so well as a team. Everybody was contributing. We had a nice lead. There was really no reason for me to push it or force shots.
They came out and played a lot harder than we did. After the last showing they had on their home floor, I think they took it upon themselves and played with more effort and more heart. And they did it.
We want to go into the road trip playing with some momentum, playing with some kind of rhythm.
We knew it was a big game. Especially playing them in this city. We needed this win.
You got to talk to the team when plays break down, but nothing close to what (reporter Peter) Vecsey or (TV analyst David) Aldridge said.
You give us two or three days in the playoffs to prepare for a team, study them and break them down, and we'll see. That's what he lives for. That's what the system is all about.
We are a much better team right now. We are playing really well and executing very well. We are moving the ball and defensively we are working hard, hustling and closing out the shots.