Shoot, Kobe Already Knows What He Wants to Accomplish

I’m writing because I want to know what Kobe Bryant has decided he has to prove. There already isn’t any doubt in anyone’s mind that he’s one of the best players in the NBA, and well on his way to becoming one of the best ever. I don’t know if he’s on a quest for the scoring title or to establish the Lakers as “his” team, but it seems to me that he is forgetting the four other guys on the floor a little too often, and when he does, the Lakers lose.

Look, I love Kobe and the fact that he is our go-to guy. I wouldn’t have it any other way. However, the fact remains that basketball is a team sport and when the Lakers execute as a team, they are the most unstoppable force in the NBA.

This kind of selfish play breeds disharmony and a lack of unity and if the Lakers don’t play team ball, there isn’t a chance that they are going to get past any number of legitimate title contenders in the Pacific Division, let alone the Western Conference.

MATT HUMMEL

Los Angeles

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What happened to the days when coaches actually supported their players in the press and took care of team business in the locker room. Phil Jackson seems to think that ripping Kobe in the press is the way to change the team’s fortunes. Instead it seems to convey to his teammates and the rest of the league that Kobe is an out-of-control, selfish, egomaniac who is not only unworthy of praise, but also unworthy of a foul call.

Maybe Phil needs to take a refresher course in Zen and The Art of the Interview.

JOHN CLARKE, Whittier

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I’m confused. Did Kobe say he shot 2,000 jumpers a day in the off-season or that he was going to shoot 2,000 jumpers a game in the upcoming season?

STEVEN SMULLEN, Redondo Beach