NBA : Its Freaking Crazy To Think That I Want To Shoot Many Times - Kobe Bryant

Los Angeles Lakers star Kobe Bryant doesn't want to shoot this often. That's what he told reporters, at least, after his team's embarrassing 136-115 loss -- it was 115-79 after three quarters -- to the Golden State Warriors on Sunday.

"I'd always rather get guys involved and play," Bryant said. "That's always the intent at the start of the ball game. But [when] you're 10, 12 points in the hole, I've got to try to keep us in the ball game at some point. But it's tough. It's tough.


"This responsibility, it's on me. When things go good, it's us. When things go bad, it's me."

"I'd rather not have to do that," Bryant said, "but you can't just sit back and watch crime happen in front of you."

“I'm more than willing to sit back,” Bryant said. “If you think I want to shoot this many times and be as aggressive at 36 years old, you're freaking crazy.”

Scott described the Lakers' Bryant-heavy offense as a "double-edged sword."

"We've got to find that happy medium," he added.

The Lakers have one win in 10 games, which is the worst start in franchise history. They are surrendering 117.8 points per 100 possessions, per Basketball-Reference, which is easily last in the league. You take an aging superstar who doesn't appear to trust his teammates, you add an old-school coach who has a defense-averse roster, and this is what you get, I guess. Bryant scored 44 points against the Warriors, but shot 15-for-34 from the field -- and he didn't even play in the fourth quarter. On an average night, he goes 9-for-24.

Let's see what Jack Nicholson thinks about all this:

Every game, this situation is getting more reminiscent of Michael Jordan's stint with the Washington Wizards. This team, though, is worse. Does that mean Bryant is justified in jacking all these shots? Uh … that's complicated. If the Lakers were to have any success, you'd imagine they'd need to play in such a way that the whole is more than the sum of its parts. That's not going to happen with Bryant playing like this. There aren't a lot of great ball movers or creators on his team, though, so I'm not sure any system could have much of an impact. I'll buy that he's doing this because he thinks it's what's best for Los Angeles, even if I'm not sure if that's correct. Bryant's always had the mentality that he'll try to shoot his team back into games when they're down, and they've been down pretty much all the time. That's unlikely to change soon.