Jackson limiting pressure for Bryant

LOS ANGELES, CA — For their first round series against the Phoenix Suns, the Los Angeles Lakers will need to depend heavily on superstar Kobe Bryant. Lakers coach Phil Jackson is making a concerted effort to ease some of that pressure by lowering the expectations he places on Kobe. “We’re trying to make Kobe realize this team doesn’t need him to score eighty points every night to beat the Suns,” the nine time NBA Champion coach told reporters at a pre-game press conference. “With Luke and Lamar back from injury, I think fifty points should be just about enough; and if he could pick up a couple of triple doubles along the way that would be helpful. As a team, we’re just trying to let Kobe know we’re here to help him. He can count on at least thirty points from the rest of the team – so if he breaks the 45 mark in every game and Smush Parker completely shuts down Steve Nash, we should have a legitimate shot.” Jackson has been preparing the team for the upcoming series by running one on five drills so that Bryant will know the best spots to force shots from. Still, with Kobe limiting himself to 30 or 40 shots a game, the rest of the Lakers will have to step up if they want to stay in their first round series.

It’s going to be tough for this sport to sweep any nations, but it’s still pretty frickin’ cool!