Kobe Bryant shares how the Los Angeles Lakers made life difficult for players trying to show off that they deserve a max contract. (Photo : Getty Images for Dow Jones/Jerod Harris)
Kobe Bryant played long enough to know that basketball is also a mental game. The Los Angeles Lakers apparently did apply that approach, targeting players due for a max contract and leaving them frustrated.
Bryant knows the pressure tied up to proving his worth, particularly when the stakes are up as far as contract negotiations are concerned. The years have seen multiple players try to churn out their best performances, something that can help their chances at snagging a max contract.
During his time, Bryant revealed how they would step on the pressure. The Lakers would double-team the player/s aspiring for a max contract and make sure that he was checked. The players who are already with a max contract are defended in single coverage which in all would become a frustration for the player seeking a max deal, the USA Today reported.
The aftermath is that the player being double-teamed would get frustrated and such would rub off on his teammates. The bottom line is that the opposing team would be mentally distraught and thus become an advantage to the Lakers.
With basketball requiring focus, the ploys make a lot of sense. The only thing is that there are supporting figures that show how many times the tactic worked for the Lakers and who the head coach was at the time, SB Nation reported.
The Lakers didn’t exactly have a memorable couple of years and Kobe was witness to it before calling it quits after the 2015-16 NBA season. Either way, it was a bit of a dish to see how max contract-bound players would react when Kobe and the rest would raise the pressure.
In all, Kobe may have been trying to prove that basketball is not always about skill but also about IQ. Bryant showed this during his regime and the tactic could also be an aid to teams before actually dangling the max contract to the player in focus.
To date, it remains if the Lakers or any other team are still doing the same. The best bet is to observe players tied up to potential max contract deals and see how they are defended and respond to the challenge.
As far as Kobe Bryant is concerned, it looks like he is savoring his retirement and the video below touches on his life after the NBA.
