Getty Kobe Bryant is not returning to the NBA -- even though the Lakers are finally championship contenders again.
Kobe Bryant is not making a return to the NBA.
Despite the fact that the Los Angeles Lakers are off to their first 3-1 start since the 2010-11 season — the year after the Lakers won their last NBA title — the five-time NBA champion has once again given a definitive answer — he is not returning to chase a title as a mere role player.
Bryant stated the following during an interview with Kristen Ledlow and Candace Parker’s podcast.
“I like my rings the hard way,” he said. “I like fighting for them and earning them. I don’t like jumping to the easier route, so I wouldn’t take it.”
Kobe Bryant: Playing for Lakers or Clippers is Easy Route to Title
Bryant continued to elaborate that playing for one of the Los Angeles teams — the Los Angeles Clippers being the other — does mean that you’re taking the easy route for a championship.
“Well, I mean if you could pick a team in Los Angeles, it seems like it’d be the easier route. Both teams are great. But you know, you got some great teams around the league too that are playing well. What I’m more fascinated to see is how the coaching brings this collection of talent together. What system are they using? How are they developing throughout the course of the season?”
However, Bryant did say that both teams have a long season ahead of them and they still have to battle through adversity — along with establishing a personality that fits both squads.
“Because on paper, you have a lot of teams that look good and a lot of duos that look good. But now, systematically you got to figure out how you’re going to execute as a team.
What’s your personality going to be as a team? How are you going to progress through that, throughout the course of the year” How are you going to manage injuries?
And all those kind of variables that could win or lose you a championship.”
Kobe Won’t Return to Play Second Fiddle to LeBron and Anthony Davis
The 41-year-old guard retired at the conclusion of the 2015-16 season after 20 seasons in the Purple and Gold. Considering his alpha mentality — he was the team’s leading scorer and shot-taker in his last season despite converting on just 35.8 percent of his field-goal attempts — there’s no reason to believe he would return to play second fiddle to LeBron James and Anthony Davis.
Although you won’t be seeing Bryant in a Purple and Gold jersey again, he did address the most interesting topic in the NBA today, none other than the battle for Los Angeles. The Lakers and the Clippers are easily two of the top teams in the NBA today and they look to be on a crash course to battle in the Western Conference Finals.
“Man, it’s awesome. Man, are you kidding me? Like this is, as a competitor it would be a competitor’s dream, to participate in something like that. It’s fun. And I’m enjoying it like everybody else.”
Although Bryant won’t be taking the court at Staples Center, the two teams of Los Angeles will continue to battle for supremacy between two of the best duos in the league.