During last season’s playoffs, the Brooklyn Nets were dominated in the second round by the Miami Heat, and point guard Deron Williams struggled throughout the series. His performance was not lost on Kobe Bryant, who criticized the former All-Star in a piece with Sports Illustrated’s Chris Ballard.
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Bryant said that Williams had psyched himself out and lost confidence in himself after Game 2 of the series when Williams had an 0-9 shooting day. He added that he would rather shoot 0-30 than 0-9. Today at the Brooklyn Nets media day, Williams responded to Kobe’s words via Andy Vasquez of The Record:
Deron: I'm a point guard. If I'm shooting 0-for-(bleeping) nine, I'm not shooting 20 more shots. Not going to happen."
— Andy Vasquez (@andy_vasquez) September 28, 2014
Williams’ mindset makes sense as everyone simply isn’t built like Kobe is. Especially as a point guard, Williams feels it is his job to get the rest of the team going even if it comes as a detriment to his own scoring.
Williams has also proven himself to be a prolific scorer in this league. He has averaged over 17 points and attempted nearly 14 shots per game in his career. Bryant had a point when he said Williams could have taken more shots if he wanted to.
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This just goes to show that Kobe has a mindset all his own. Nobody else in this league thinks like Bryant, and that is what makes him great.
[divide]Lakers Update: Kobe Bryant Cutting Weight, Steve Nash Playing 5 On 5
