Kobe Bryant Shooting Slump Mocked In Viral ‘NBA Jam’ Footage
NBA star Kobe Bryant was honored in a now-viral “NBA Jam” video clip, but not in a good way.
Video: Kobe Bryant’s shooting gets mocked in hilarious NBA Jam video. Watch > https://t.co/1pcSujmlU7 pic.twitter.com/f1S5w9xJcW
— Athlete Swag (@AthleteSwag) November 5, 2015
The longtime Los Angeles Lakers shooting guard has not had a very good start to the current season. Not only has the team loss each of its four games, but Kobe Bryant’s overall shooting stats are not very common for the five-time NBA champion.
According to CBS Sports, Kobe Bryant has only made 20 out of 62 shots from the field since the regular season started. Even though he was once known for a high 3-point shooting average, Bryant has only made 7 out of 34 3-pointers so far.
Many fans and critics have targeted Kobe Bryant with their comments about his poor performance since the first game of the season. After the Lakers lost to the Denver Nuggets Tuesday night, 120-109, the mockery continued with punchlines and jokes on Twitter.
Kobe’s right. He sucks so far. There’s one major reason — he’s changed what once made him great. #Lakers READ: https://t.co/NXHeuY1ouA — HoopsHabit (@HoopsHabit) November 5, 2015
It’s weird my eight-year-old little brother thinks Kobe Bryant sucks and I can’t tell him differently
— jordan eichenblatt (@JEichenblatt) November 4, 2015
Kobe Bryant stinks NOW. I don’t care that he won 5 rings. Because that doesn’t mean he is good NOW — Matt (@finnamattyc) October 7, 2015
The Cauldron apparently decided to take a more creative approach to mocking Kobe Bryant for his poor performance by using his own footage against him. They even turned it into a scene from the hit 90s game “NBA Jam” to drive the point home a little further.
When it comes to criticizing Kobe Bryant, however, it still seems as if the biggest critic is Kobe himself.
The 17-time NBA All-Star did not hesitate to put himself down in the media after Sunday night’s loss against the Dallas Mavericks.
“I’m the 200th-best player in the league right now. I freaking suck… I just can’t make a shot.”
During the game, Kobe only scored 15 points and made 3 out of 15 shots from the field, according to ESPN. His comments after the game about his performance, though, seemed to leave more of a lasting impact in the headlines.
On Monday, head coach Byron Scott told ESPN that Kobe Bryant was still “very angry” at himself about his performance. As a result, Scott decided to give his star player the day off from practice.
“I said, just stay away from the gym today. Just spend some time with your kids and family and get basketball off your mind for 24 hours if you can — which I don’t think he can — and then come in tomorrow fresh and we’ll go from there.”
Even though the Lakers have definitely not started the season on a high note, Byron Scott made sure that he did not blame Kobe Bryant for the team’s decline in the media. On the contrary, he showed nothing but respect and support for the 37-year-old player and his future of playing this season.
“He’s going to get to the Kobe that we know. It’s just three games into the season. It’s still very early. We’re going to keep feeding him… He’s in the gym 24-7. It’s not that he’s not putting in the work. It’s just, the basketball gods aren’t blessing him right now with making shots. But they’ll fall. Then we won’t be having this conversation… He’s frustrated… He’s just one of those guys that he expects a lot more out of himself than most people. He’s very hard on himself.”
Kobe Bryant was first selected with the 13th overall pick in the 1996 NBA Draft. With nearly two decades in the history books as an NBA player, many fans and critics would agree that Kobe definitely has earned the right to miss the mark a few games.
[Image Credit: Harry How / Getty Images]
