After the Lakers were eliminated by the Oklahoma City Thunder in Game 5 of the Western Conference Semi-Finals on Monday night, the team suddenly found itself in the off-season. And, off-seasons for the Lakers are generally much different than they are for other teams.
During his exit interview with the team, third-year Laker forward Metta World Peace mentioned several reasons why the team was unable to reach their championship goals this season.
According to J. Michael Falgoust of USA Today, World Peace spoke about how other members of the team need to look to score more, rather than relying on Bryant to constantly bail them out.
“I think guys need to trust themselves more. I think some guys — not myself — look to Kobe too much,” World Peace said during exit interviews Tuesday.
This comes following a game where Bryant scored 42 points, but didn’t record a single assist. Bryant has always been the type of player who has been criticized for taking too many shots, which some believe discourages his teammates to shoot the ball.
World Peace thinks that shouldn’t be the case.
For those looking into these comments as a possible rift between World Peace and Bryant, think again. Following the Lakers’ Game 6 loss to the Denver Nuggets in the first round, Bryant mentioned that World Peace was the only player on the roster he trusted to show up and play hard every night.
Bryant’s exit interview is scheduled for later in the week.