The Los Angeles Lakers are officially 0-3 with Kobe Bryant in the lineup this season after the team was blown out by the Oklahoma City Thunder on Friday night at Chesapeake Energy Arena.
In his first three games back, Bryant has been limited in terms of minutes on the floor. Bryant decided to take a cautious approach to his return to the floor for the Lakers and smartly so.
Apparently, Bryant will continue to play limited minutes as he believes he’s not ready to receive a boost in playing time just yet via Lakers Nation reporter Serena Winters:
Kobe says he’s not really ready to increase his minutes yet, says he can feel “it’s not ready.” (on TWC)
— Serena Winters (@SerenaWinters) December 14, 2013
Bryant played 23 minutes on Friday night in a losing effort against the Thunder. Due to Steve Blake’s elbow injury keeping the veteran guard out for at least the next six weeks, Bryant was forced to start at the point guard position and that trend will likely continue for the rest of the road trip.
The five-time NBA champion finished with only four points on 2-of-6 shooting, but dished out a game-high 13 assists in the loss in an attempt to get his teammates involved rather than attacking on offense. Although dishing out 13 assists was impressive, Bryant committed seven turnovers.
With Bryant clearly still a bit rusty, it’ll take some time before he shows signs of his former form.
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