With Kobe Bryant sidelined due to an injured ankle, he has been spotted on the Lakers bench in recent games helping to guide and inform his teammates as to what’s going on on the floor and how they can put themselves in the best position possible to succeed.
Due to Bryant’s recent time in a suit and tie on the sideline, he’s been dubbed ‘Coach Kobe’ by the millions of social media minions that follow the Lakers.
But what does the actual head coach of the Lakers, Mike D’Antoni, think about Bryant’s assistant coaching efforts?
According to Eric Pincus of the L.A. Times, D’Antoni doesn’t mind Bryant’s help, as long as it’s within his overall scheme for the team.
“You’ve just got to make sure he tells them the right things because he could be giving them different directions than I am,” said D’Antoni. “That’s not good — a little bit of a loose cannon.”
D’Antoni’s point is a fair one, even if it seems he’s getting a tad defensive. Obviously you don’t want Bryant trying to direct players one way while D’Antoni is sending them in a different direction. Regardless of who has the better gameplan, the lack of continuity would hurt the squad as a whole.
Still, I find it interesting that D’Antoni would point out that stipulation when asked about the situation. Honestly, if Bryant was going to change things up and go with his own ideas rather than D’Antoni’s, it doesn’t matter if he’s playing or not. He’s going to do what he wants and what he thinks helps the team the most.
So are D’Antoni’s comments nothing and I’m simply making a big deal out of nothing, or are they indeed defensive and speaking to D’Antoni’s lack of self-confidence in the control he has over this team? I guess we’ll see.
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