Kobe Bryant may be one of the greatest basketball players of all time, but not everyone wants to share the court with the future NBA Hall of Famer anymore. In fact, "most guys don’t want to play with Kobe," according to Milwaukee Bucks forward Jared Dudley, who made the comments during an appearance on ESPN Radio Wednesday.
The Los Angeles Lakers' longtime franchise player is known for his intensity and ball-dominating style, but age and injuries have began his decline on the court. Bryant's refusal to "tone it down" and start deferring to his teammates more often has made L.A. an increasingly unappealing place to play, however, which is frustrating given his immense talent.
"When he wants to, the worst thing about it, is he can," Dudley said of Bryant turning to his teammates more often. "Remember, Kobe gets in this thing where he doesn't pass and then he overpasses and he's trying to get triple doubles ever night, so we know you have it, it's just not something he wants to do, and that's why I think it'll be a while before the Lakers can get good, because no stars -- I mean, (Kevin) Love -- I'll be surprised if Love wanted to go there."
The comments were part of several appearances on ESPN platforms made by Dudley during the day, which also included a stop on First Take. He was surprisingly candid in many of his answers, including the above comments regarding Bryant and his opinion that the Cavaliers have improved since the Kevin Love injury. Here are some other notable comments:
On Love:
"If you leave LeBron, there's something wrong. LeBron is the most unselfish superstar we have. You see they're winning. You're in the Eastern Conference. You're gonna turn down an extra $25 million to go to L.A. because of the sun? I mean, we all love the sun, but you can buy some sun there ... At the end of the day, it would validate (negative opinions) of Love. I mean, you're leaving a winner. Cleveland has the best facilities, I mean you can go on about how good it is there. And I can understand you might want your own identity, but to be honest with you, he's got to prove, hey, win one or two (titles), and then opt out."
On James Harden:
"I would say players have utmost respect for James Harden. For one, he's improved every year, and also, for me, as a shooter, he gets his shooters involved. Even though he shoots the ball a lot, he's attacking, he looks for (Jason) Terry and (Corey) Brewer."
On Zach Randolph, who he says is the most underrated star in the game:
"Zach's an animal. 20-10 career."
On Carmelo Anthony, who he says is the most overrated star in the game:
"He has the talent to be able to facilitate. The triangle should fit him where he's gotta make guys better, and defensively, he's gotta take the next level up ... He's gotta get out, he's gotta get out of the first, second rounds -- he's gotta get his teams to the playoffs. LeBron, with that (Knicks) roster, LeBron would've gotten them to the playoffs. They would've been at least an eight-seed."
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