Kobe Bryant triumphantly returned from a torn Achilles last season despite his advancing age, only to fracture his knee six games in and miss the rest of the year. He appears ready to play as the NBA season approaches, but expressed a bit of doubt regarding whether he'd resemble the "Black Mamba" of old.
Bryant said the biggest challenge this year will be "Trying to prove to myself I can be myself." He also said that he "hopes" he can return to being a top defender. Last season without Bryant the Lakers were one of the NBA's worst defensive teams, and even Bryant showed signs of decline.
"I'm looking forward to seeing how I move my feet defensively, staying in front of guys, chasing guys off of picks, things like that," Bryant told reporters. "Our primary focus is to be great defensively, and that involves taking that challenge every single night."
Kobe: "I'm looking forward to seeing how I move my feet defensively, staying in front of guys, chasing guys off of picks, things like that."
— Mike Trudell (@LakersReporter) September 30, 2014
When talking about offense, Bryant talked with a bit more swagger. "Offensively I can always dictate what I'm going to do."
Offense isn't an issue for Kobe, currently 4th on the all-time scoring list: "Offensively I can always dictate what I'm going to do." — Mike Trudell (@LakersReporter) September 30, 2014
In his brief stint last season Bryant averaged 13.8 points on 42 percent shooting. He was coming off a torn Achilles though-the prior season before going down he averaged 27.3 points, six assists (career-high) and 5.6 rebounds while logging just under 39 minutes.
Bryant also described swirling emotions prior to embarking on his 19th year, including rage.
"It's a mixture of excitement, a little nervousness and a little rage," Bryant said. "It's just trying to see if I can prove to myself that I can be myself, and all the words of doubt kind of adds to it."
The Lakers will be relying on Bryant to resemble his old self since the 2014-15 Lakers look nothing like Kobe's glory days. Steve Nash is a shell of his former self at point guard, the combination of Carlos Boozer and rookie Julius Randle doesn't project to add much defensively at power forward, and Jordan Hill is being elevated to starter as a replacement for Pau Gasol.
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