When a player says something about the Los Angeles Lakers, at least part of what he’s saying is about Kobe Bryant. Because the 1-9 Lakers are Kobe’s team, whether he likes it or not. (Right now, he does not.) In their latest ignominious defeat, the Lakers gave up 136 points to the Golden State Warriors. (LA is dead last at stopping opponents from scoring, giving up an average of 112 points a game.) Jeremy Lin said after the game that the Lakers defense offered “no resistance.” Lin said: “There’s so many things wrong right now… communication, trust and effort.”
Kobe Bryant, who takes most of the Lakers shots, knew who Lin was talking about. Otherwise Bryant wouldn’t have felt the need to answer him. Here’s a sampling of what Bryant said: “It’s not about trust…you can’t look at everybody else and point the finger…you have to look at yourself first.” Bryant claimed: “I look at myself first.” But what’s he supposed to do? Wait till Carlos Boozer turns into DeAndre Jordan? Here’s the thing about trust issues. If one player on the team thinks there are trust issues and another doesn’t, then there are trust issues. Because it only takes one player without trust to create an issue. (You’re only as strong as your weakest link, as they say.) And Kobe Bryant can’t very well trust his Lakers teammates right now, no matter what he claims. Because Jeremy Lin is 100% correct: the Lakers aren’t trustworthy.
