4. Mentoring
When you look at the way this team is built, there’s a lot of younger players, a handful of veterans, and then future Hall-of-Famers Kobe Bryant and Steve Nash. Nash has always been a great mentor for younger players, and Kobe has seemingly taken on that role as of late. Kobe was a solid leader and teacher before, and would occasionally take a player or two under his wing, but now he’s putting in the time to truly get to know his younger teammates and mentor them to become thinkers of the game.
Nash is certainly qualified to mentor the young guards, while Kobe is qualified to literally teach at any position. However, the other veteran presence who can be of use is Carlos Boozer. Boozer is a physical player who plays the power forward position in a traditional sense. He has plenty of knowledge to pass on to a young big man such as Julius Randle, or even give a few pointers to a seasoned veteran like Jordan Hill, who is continually expanding his game year after year.
Mentoring doesn’t always mean simply teaching and/or leading by example, though. Sometimes it means passing on wisdom and also allowing for the the mentee(s) to go out and try something on their own, and then giving input that will help the individual(s) grow.
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Kobe Bryant After His First Game Back
PAGE 6: Five Reasons 2014-15 Lakers Could Really Mesh Together