Kobe Bryant has never shied away from self-reflection and self-criticism. After recent losses in which he’s struggled, he has said, “I freaking suck” and called himself “the 200th best player in the NBA.” LeBron James isn’t buying it. He told the Akron Beacon-Journal that he thinks Bryant is just trying to challenge himself.
Via ESPN:James laughed when asked about Bryant’s poor performance and harsh self-criticism and told the Akron Beacon Journal, “He knows he don’t suck.”
“What I see is a challenge to himself,” James told the newspaper. “It has zero to do with his age. Zero. I think at one point in my career, in my 20s, I felt like I sucked. It’s all a personal challenge.”James is probably right, to a degree. But someone as self-reflective as Bryant, especially having been through all the injuries he’s been through in recent years, has to know that at least some of this is Father Time. Either way, it’s hard to watch Kobe like this.