Kobe Bryant sits out the game against Sacramento Kings; Concedes the NBA scoring title to Kevin Durant
Kobe Bryant revealed yesterday that his biggest focus this season, is to get his hand on the holy grail of NBA for the sixth time in his already illustrious career.
It now seems, he wasn’t messing around when he said that.
The Black Mamba needed just 38 points going into Thursday night’s game against the Sacramento Kings, but decided to give his younger team-mates some valuable court time before the playoffs and in doing so, conceded the NBA scoring
title to Oklahoma City Thunder star forward Kevin Durant.
"The scoring title is not that important. We know I can do it. We know I can go out and score 38 points. The most important thing is sending the right message to the group, which is putting a championship above all else. That means
rest. That means letting other guys play. That means us getting ready for Sunday [for the playoff opener]."
Bryant was a clear favourite to bag the title this year, but a left shin injury late in the season forced him to miss seven games in a row. He still finished the season with 27.86 points per game, only 0.17 shy of Durant, who has
achieved the landmark for the third year running.
Mike, when asked about the team disposition and Kobe’s non participation hinted that it was simple decision as Kobe never indicated any desire to participate;
"There was no question in his mind," Brown said of Bryant. "Not one time did he ever hint to me that he was going to play.... He thinks it's best for him and best for the team."
Kobe was not the only Lakers bug gun who missed Thursday’s game. Power forward Pau Gasol and centre Andrew Bynum also missed the game and with Metta World Peace out with a seven game suspension, Mike Brown started the game with
David Ebanks, Josh McRoberts, Jordan Hill, Ramon Sessions and Steve Blake.
The Lakers failed to get going in the absence of their star players and ended the regular season with a 113-96 loss.
Session, who started in Kobe’s place, managed only 14 points in the game. The Lakers will now take on an explosive Denver Nuggets side in the first round of playoffs.
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