In case you haven’t heard, Kobe Bryant has been excruciatingly bad during his final season. ; And if there were about 10 seconds that epitomize the 37-year-old’s 20th season, it would probably be this one from late in the second quarter in the Los Angeles Lakers’ 103-91 loss to the Philadelphia 76ers on Tuesday night. ; Warning: The below possession may be painful for Lakers fans to watch. Oh, man. Really, this possession was doomed from the start. Let’s break it down a bit more closely, probably more closely than necessary. Lakers fans, you might want to turn back. ; *** First, notice D’Angelo Russell at …
In case you haven’t heard, Kobe Bryant has been excruciatingly bad during his final season. ;
And if there were about 10 seconds that epitomize the 37-year-old’s 20th season, it would probably be this one from late in the second quarter in the Los Angeles Lakers’ 103-91 loss to the Philadelphia 76ers on Tuesday night. ;
Warning: The below possession may be painful for Lakers fans to watch.
Oh, man. Really, this possession was doomed from the start. Let’s break it down a bit more closely, probably more closely than necessary. Lakers fans, you might want to turn back. ;
***
First, notice D’Angelo Russell at the bottom of the screen making a half-hearted fake at running to the top of the key, before putting his head down and jogging back toward the wing. He could already see what’s happening. ;
Russell was probably aware that Bryant was going to hold on to the ball, go one-on-one and chuck up the shot. But then it got even worse. ;Bryant almost mishandled the ball, nearly resulting in a turnover.
At this point it became all too apparent that this was not going to end well. ;He then goes for a crossover that creates no space between him and the defender.
It’s not too late to pass the ball, ;but it’s too late for Kobe to realize it’s not too late. And so, here comes the fadeaway jumper that misses everything entirely.
And there it was: the perfect 2015 Kobe possession. ;
Against the 76ers, Bryant went 7-26 shooting and went 4-17 on three-pointers. ;Through 14 games, he is shooting about 30 percent overall and his three-point percentage is approximately 21 percent. ;At about 16 points per game, Bryant would be on pace to have his lowest scoring total since his second year in the league (excluding the 2013-2014 season, when he only played six games).
Hard as it may be to read those stats, it’s harder still to watch it all actually unfold. And no possession has been harder to watch this year than that one. Kobe is done. ;
;
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Let’s Breakdown This Hilariously Abysmal Kobe Bryant Possession
