Free On the Court With... Kobe Bryant by Matt Christopher

troubles became obvious. Everyone was still trying to learn what was expected of him, but
     they weren’t really playingtogether. When the Lakers struggled or the offense broke down, Bryant looked to score, which only increased the feeling of
     friction of the team. Too often, Bryant had the ball twenty or twenty-five feet from the basket, juking and faking and dribbling
     while his teammates just stood around unsure of what he was going to do next. And when Coach Rambis tried to initiate some
     changes in the club’s offense to accommodate both O’Neal and Bryant, the team often ignored him.
    But even as the club continued to struggle, Bryant’s playing time increased. He moved into the starting lineup, splitting
     time between the guard and forward positions. As he got the opportunity to play, he cut loose and wowed fans at L.A.’s Great
     Western Forum with his stunning athleticism and leaping ability. Bryant often played to the crowd, trying to top each spectacular
     shot with an even better one.
    It was entertaining, but did nothing to help team chemistry. O’Neal and other veteran players felt left out, and Bryant was
     estranged from his teammates. The local media went wild reporting on the Lakers’ ongoing soap opera, as O’Neal intimated that
     he thought Bryant alone was the cause of the team’s problems. After each game or practice, Bryant wentone way and the rest of the team went another. In an understatement, Joe Bryant said, “It’s been a difficult year for my son.”
    Yet somehow, despite everything, the Lakers had enough talent to win more than they lost. But critics noted that the Lakers
     didn’t appear to have a coherent plan on offense. When their jump shots fell, which opened up the inside for O’Neal, they
     won. But when they didn’t, the opposition could double-team O’Neal and pick off rebounds, often holding the Lakers to just
     a single shot. When that happened, the Lakers had a hard time scoring and usually lost.
    Bryant finished the regular season with a scoring average of nearly 20 points per game. Los Angeles faced the Houston Rockets,
     a team in even more disarray than the Lakers, in the first round of the playoffs.
    In the first two games of the series, the Lakers looked like a team that had finally learned to play together. Bryant shut
     down Rocket star Scottie Pippen, and the Lakers swept the first two games.
    But when Bryant got in foul trouble in game three, Pippen went wild, scoring 37 points as the Rockets won. Then the Lakers
     pulled a surprise in game four.
    Bryant and O’Neal spent much of the first halfpassing to each other for easy baskets, and the Lakers jumped out way ahead and won with ease, eliminating the Rockets. It
     was the way it was supposed to be, and gave everyone a glimpse of just how good the Lakers could be if O’Neal and Bryant learned
     to play together, just as Jerry West had once learned to play with Wilt Chamberlain, and Magic Johnson with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.
    “All those stories about me and Shaq, you can throw in the garbage,” said Bryant afterward. “Look at us. We play great together.”
    The victory sent the Lakers up against the San Antonio Spurs in the next round. With their twin towers of Tim Duncan and David
     Robinson, the Spurs had the manpower to match up against O’Neal under the basket. When they did, the Lakers appeared confused.
     Rice and Bryant both reacted by trying to go one-on-one in an attempt to generate some offense. But the Spurs continued to
     dominate play underneath the basket and control the tempo of the game.
    With O’Neal in constant foul trouble and the rest of the team shooting poorly, the Lakers battled hard but couldn’t manage
     to overcome the Spurs. And for the second straight year Kobe Bryant missed severalimportant shots late in close games, including two bricks from the free throw line that cost his team a chance to win game
     three. The Spurs defeated the Lakers in four straight games. The