Kobe Bryant may have his future planned out after his playing days are over, but coaching clearly isn’t one of them, based on his response to a Lakers fan on twitter.
Although the superstar guard did everything in his will in trying to play through a severely sprained ankle on Friday night against the Indiana Pacers, he quickly came to a realization that it wasn’t meant to be after just 12 minutes of play.
[Related: Kobe expresses anger over Dahntay Jones’ play]
How he even attempted to play is beyond anyone – given his “out indefinitely” status – and truth be told, it probably wasn’t a smart decision by him or the team to try to play through it, as a weakened ankle is much easier to sprain again. It appears the main reason behind his desire to give it a go was to send the team a message, from Kevin Ding of The OC Register:
Kobe on his mentality to his teammates tonight: “I didn’t know how much I have, but whatever I have, I’m going to give ’em. That’s all my message was to ’em.”
Kobe would sit out the rest of the contest, but was involved throughout as somewhat of an assistant coach. He barked out instructions, gave out advice and appeared to be generally effective as a coach figure. Here is a piece of what went through his mind during the contest, from Mark Medina of Daily News:
“Reading the defense that is out there and seeing what’s going on and what we can take advantage of,” Bryant said. “I’m trying to put them in the best position possible to make them successful. Mike has a million things going on their head. Steve and Dwight, they’re out there in the moment so it’s tough to see those things. I could see them from the sideline.”
Whatever he said, the team certainly responded collectively with an impressive and gritty 99-93 victory over one of the toughest home teams in the league in the Pacers. Kobe won’t look to become a coach of any kind when his time on the court is over, but with his playing status still up in the air for the next contest, perhaps we’ll get another look or two at the “Zen Vino”.