Kobe Bryant: ‘My Legs Aren’t What They Used To Be’

Dan Duangdao
2 Min Read

In the 108-96 loss to the Portland Trail Blazers, Kobe Bryant finished with 21 points, two rebounds and two assists in 34 minutes.

While the Los Angeles Lakers guard was able to get to the free throw line seven times, he was only 7-of-20 from the field and had two airballs in the first quarter.

Following the 13th loss of the season, Kobe was asked how he is doing after playing extended minutes against the Trail Blazers according to LakersNation.com reporter Serena Winters:

While Kobe shot a poor percentage from the field, he was able to get high percentage looks at times within the offense against the Blazers. Coming off screens, he was able to catch and elevate for mid-range jumpers. However, there were still times where Kobe took contested shots due to overdribbling and unsuccessfully pump-faking his opponents.

At this stage of his career, Kobe will need to rely on the offense instead of creating his own shots in isolation plays. With Kobe’s legs not being what they used to be, he will need to make adjustments to his game if he wants to be effective.

With the Lakers playing the Indiana Pacers in a back-to-back situation, it is unclear if Kobe will be able to matchup against Paul George. After playing major minutes, it would not be surprising if Kobe rested as Metta World Peace gets the start at small forward.

In 12 games, Kobe is averaging 15.7 points, 4.1 rebounds and 3.7 assists.

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Dan Duangdao was the managing editor at Lakers Nation (2013-16, 2018-20). He is currently the founder at LA Sports Media, Lake Show, Raiders Nation, Rams Nation, Kings Nation, Galaxy Nation, and MMA Rumors. Born and raised in Southern California and a lifelong Los Angeles sports and mixed martial arts fan, his first NBA game was Kobe Bryant and the Lakers against the Golden State Warriors with Michael Jordan in attendance during the 1998-99 NBA season. He was previously a contributor at HOOPSWORLD (now Basketball Insiders) and an NBA editor at ClutchPoints. Follow him on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram: @DanDuangdao.