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 think that from the start of this series we have just been playing extremely well and we are moving the ball around really well. We have just evolved into this from the start of the season, it has been process. We are just playing so well together.
We are a young team and we played extremely well tonight. We just take it game by game and we are starting to see more success.
We're a young team. We tend to be very up and down, which you expect with a young team. Sometimes we play extremely well, sometimes we don't. The main thing is when you go through stretches when you don't play very well is to try to stop the bleeding before it starts bleeding profusely.
We're starting to play with more of a purpose now, and a clear concept of what we're trying to accomplish out there.
From the start of the series we've been playing extremely well, moving the ball, reading the defense well. It's been a progress.
During the regular season, when everyone was trying to learn the offense, Phil and I both knew I was going to have to shoulder the scoring load. Now in the playoffs, everyone has a rhythm for the game and we can start attacking as a union.
During the regular season, we were trying to find our rhythm and I had to shoulder the scoring load. We know we can start attacking teams as a unit and not me going out there trying to score 40 or 50 points.
I didn't shoot well for three-fourths of the game. I've had some games like that where I don't start off well, but I know if I stay within the game and keep shooting I can get hot at the end.
They came out and they zoned up and they trapped and they doubled, and we just continued to move the ball. It took me three quarters to kind of get the rhythm down on what they were trying to do defensively so I could go into attack mode in the fourth quarter, where I was able to start attacking the basket a little bit and get something going.
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.
I was aggressive. I saw how they played defense and decided to come at them.
I thought we'd have our ups and downs being that it's a new system, trying to learn it. It's just moving the ball, spacing, timing, rhythm, things like that. I knew it would kind of be like a roller-coaster ride.
It gives us confidence. It shows that our play is not a fluke. We move the ball consistently and play defense consistently. This bodes well for our confidence.
It is a physical game and especially in the playoffs it steps up to another degree. It is fun to be a part of those types of games. It is nothing personal.