It's a sad day in Los Angeles when even Kobe Bryant can no longer shrug off his terrible offensive play.
In the first three games of the 2015-2016 season, Bryant has connected from the floor at a shoddy 31.4 percent. And after a Lakers blow-out loss Sunday night, in which their superstar shot 3-of-15 from the floor, No. 24 didn’t mince words about his own performance.
“I’m 200th best player in the league right now. I freaking suck.”
Well, that’s one way to put it. Unfortunately for all Kobe apologists, that guesstimate of 200 may have been optimistic. Per FiveThirtyEight, Bryant had already cascaded down to 468th best in the NBA, as of Oct. 27.
Bryant’s 20-percent shooting on Sunday night included a 2-of-8 showing from downtown. While last week he was able to kid with the media about his series of misses from deep, now he’s not really in a joking mood.
“If I’d make a damn shot, that would help,” Bryant said.
In recent years, Bryant has always either ignored or laughed at his supposed declining stock value. Four weeks ago, he called ESPN’s 2015 NBA player rankings -- which had him slotted at No. 93 -- “silly,” while a year ago he deemed his then-No. 40 ranking “laughable” and labeled ESPN as “a bunch of idiots.”
Meanwhile, his team is now 0-3 on the year, and Lakers fans' hopes are sinking quickly.
Chin up, Kobe. The fourth game of the season is always the charm.
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