For such a celebrated veteran player, Kobe Bryant seems like a newbie allowing his emotions to get the better of him at this point. Then again, maybe there's a method to his madness. Shortly after the Los Angeles Lakers lost the fourth game of their current second round playoff series to the Oklahoma City Thunder, Bryant ended up shifting blame for the loss on his teammate Pau Gasol.
"Pau's got to be more assertive," Bryant said. "He's the guy they're leaving [open]. When he's catching the ball, he's looking to pass. He's got to be aggressive. He's got to shoot the ball or drive the ball to the basket. He will be next game."
Gasol had 10 points on the night compared with 38 for Bryant, so perhaps some of the statistics speak for themselves. Still, mentioning a teammate by name when losing like that is typically frowned upon.
Interestingly enough, it was Metta World Peace of all players who sounded the clearest on the night.
"Every single one of us played a part [in the losses]," World Peace said. "Every single one of us needs to go to OKC and get back on track."
For more on the Thunder go check out Welcome to Loud City and for everything on the Lakers go visit Silver Screen and Roll.