The 37 year old LA Lakers superstar, Kobe Bryant, is having some troubles lately with his shooting percentage. In the last three games Kobe managed only to shoot 16 of 51 attempts, including 6 out of 29 from the 3 point range.
With only 31.3 percent shooting from the floor, the veteran player and multiple MVP title-holder is bitter about his performance. Kobe's contempt about his game is clearly felt with his statement ranking himself the 200th-best player of the NBA as of the moment. Kobe stated via espn that, "I'm the 200th-best player in the league right now. I freaking suck. I just can't make a shot." The self-evaluation or criticism of Kobe is even worse than how others viewed him, recently ranking him as the 93rd best player in the league.
The disappointment of Kobe over his over-all performance was never left unnoticed by his coach, Byron Scott. However, when Scott was asked on how he will deal with the situation, the Lakers coach had no exact answer. Scott's answer via espn stated that;
"I don't know. I know he's not happy with it. He's disappointed with the way he's shooting the ball. He's playing hard. He's competing just like he always does. I think it's a matter of time. He's just trying to get that feel back again."
And to somehow extinguish the mental torture and self-contempt over [Kobe's] the shooting problem, Byron Scott sent Bryant home, instructing that;
"[I said] just stay away from the gym today. Just spend some time with your kids and family and get basketball off your mind for 24 hours if you can -- which I don't think he can -- and then come in tomorrow fresh and we'll go from there."
Despite Kobe's shooting issues and his anger over his over-all performance, the young core of the team never lost faith on their veteran superstar. Rookie point guard D'Angelo Russell even stated via espn that, "We're going to keep feeding him. It's just, the basketball gods aren't blessing him right now with making shots. But they'll fall. Then we won't be having this conversation."
However, despite the optimism of the coach and the teammates of Kobe, the fact that Kobe is having some problems over his shooting performance somehow strengthen the idea that the Lakers should let this seasoned be the last for Kobe.
Some critics strongly suggest that the Lakers should swallow their pride and let this season be the last for the 'Black Mamba'. However, one should also consider that though Kobe is having a bad start for this season, this doesn't mean that the Lakers superstar will not rise up from these challenges. He has proven it once, and who knows he might prove his critics wrong once more.