Kobe Bryant made his return to the Los Angeles Lakers on Sunday night. The Black Mamba re-joined the starting line up at Staples Center, eight months after injuring his Achilles tendon. Bryant came out looking to pass first instead of shoot. Kobe’s stats from the 106-94 loss, 9 points on 2 of 9 shooting, 4 assists, and eight turnovers. Following the game, Kobe gave his performance a grade of F.
“I’m just insanely critical,” Bryant said after finishing with nine points, eight rebounds, four assists, two steals and eight turnovers in 28 minutes. “There was a bunch of things that I completely messed up on.”
When asked to grade his performance, Bryant gave himself an “F.” And when asked if he had been “reborn in a new form,” he quipped, “Right now my form is a horse’s a– form.”
“I failed miserably at that,” Bryant said after revealing his personal expectation for his debut was to avoid turnovers. “That was really the biggest thing for me, just trying to take care of the basketball, because I know I’m going to be in charge of making some decisions out there. … Basketball-wise, I’m not happy.”
Not only was the Mamba rusty, teammates were out of sync as well, getting caught up in the hype of Kobe’s return also. It’ll take some time for everyone to adjust.
