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Berry Tramel: Age taking toll on Kobe Bryant
Kobe Bryant gingerly walked onto the Ford Center court Friday for a Laker practice, a huge icepack attached to his knee.
Lakers guard Kobe Bryant, left, isn’t the same player he once was. PHOTO BY NATE BILLINGS, THE OKLAHOMAN
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A less sympathetic figure you’d be hard-pressed to find in American sport. Lord of the hated Lakers. Eagle, Colorado. Spats with Shaq. Lots of reason to dislike Kobe.
But standing on the hardwood in downtown OKC, 13 hours after the Thunder brought down the Lakers, Kobe seemed a little more human. Seemed a little like a lot of us.
Getting old.
Kobe remains an epic ballplayer. One of the NBA’s two best. A lionheart.
But this Thunder-Laker series gives us a chance to study Kobe’s slippage. He’s not quite the player he was a year or two ago. Doesn’t jump quite as high, doesn’t shoot quite as straight.
"You gotta play a little differently,” Kobe admitted Friday, then said, "I haven’t completely fallen off,” with a grin on his face but an edge to his voice that said beware all doubters.
How has Kobe played differently? He picks his spots.
"The biggest adjustment in his game is he doesn’t feel the necessity of pedal to the metal for 40 minutes,” said Laker point guard Derek Fisher.
Kobe sometimes will go for the jugular and sometimes will be facilitator. Trouble is, he no longer picks the right spots.
We still see Kobe as the commando who can take over a game. I sat next to a Western Conference scout during Game 2 who foretold the script early. If the Thunder keeps it close, Kobe will win it in the end.
And it happened just that way, with Kobe producing 15 fourth-quarter points and the Lakers surviving, 95-92.
Trouble is, Kobe sees himself as commando. The athlete is the last to know. Kobe no longer can will victory on demand.
Thursday night, Kobe forgot facilitation, turning into what Los Angeles Times columnist Bill Plaschke called the "Bad Kobe.
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