Los Angeles Lakers legends James Worthy and Michael Cooper questioned Jeremy Lin's ability to lead the team to success after losing in their first five games this season.
Lin, who was traded to the Lakers from the Houston Rockets during the offseason, averaged 10.8 points to go along with 5.0 assists and 2.6 rebounds per game, but his production was overshadowed by his inconsistencies.
When asked about Lin's performance, Worthy said that the 26-year-old point guard is still a work in progress because he is not a natural playmaker unlike veteran Steve Nash, who was ruled out for the rest of the season due to nagging back injuries.
"He's a work in progress," Worthy said of Lin via Lake Show Life. "He's a guard trying to learn how to be a point guard. I'm not sure if he has a killer instinct yet."
Worthy said that Lin should forget about his memorable 'Linsanity' moments when he was still with the New York Knicks, pointing out that the former Harvard University standout is thinking too much.
In his first five games this season, Lin committed 3.4 turnovers per game, but Worthy said that it has nothing to do with the quick point guards that he faced like Chris Paul, Isaiah Thomas, Stephen Curry and Patrick Beverly.
"He needs to dribble less," Worthy said when asked about Lin's failure to take care of the ball. "That's how he gets his turnovers."
Cooper believes that Lin's inconsistencies had something to do with his failure to keep in step with quicker guards. He said that Lin is exerting too much effort on the defensive end of the floor to compensate his disadvantage in terms of quickness, which makes Cooper believe that Byron Scott should change his defensive tactics.
On the other hand, Lakers superstar came into Lin's defense, saying that it will take time before he settles down, but the 16-time All-Star praised the fifth-year guard for his mental toughness, particularly in one play when he declined to pass the ball to Bryant.
"You have to be able to assert yourself, especially on a team that I'm playing on," Bryant said. "Because I don't want chumps, I don't want pushovers. If you're a chump and a pushover, I will run over you. So it's important for him to have that toughness and to say no."