Team USA experience could be a turning point for Kobe Bryant

If this summer has taught us anything, it’s that Los Angeles Lakers guard Kobe Bryant has one of the most complex and intriguing personalities in sports. He is at the same time relentlessly loyal, extremely impulsive, and very competitive, easily influenced, sometimes hardheartedly emotional and stubborn to a fault.

Bryant entered his tumultuous summer with a bitter loss to the Phoenix Suns in the fist round of the NBA playoffs for the second straight season, flip-flopped more than former presidential candidate John Kerry on his desire, or lack thereof, to stay with the Lakers, threw a couple of his teammates, most notably Andrew Bynum, under a double-decker bus, proceeded to take a vow of silence without coming to any sort of resolution on his trade demands, and revived Michael Jordan’s original Dream Team role on this year’s Team USA squad by showcasing suffocating defensive play and, shockingly enough, mature leadership. Having begun the summer on a low note and ending it with a seemingly cathartic run in the FIBA Americas Tournament, which finished on Sunday with a triumphant drubbing of Argentina 118-81, Kobe’s roller coaster summer hit the end of the line this week.

Given the positive vibes of the Team USA experience, what is Kobe’s current mindset? Does he remain stubborn and stick to his principles that he holds so dear, and continues to demand a trade out of LA? Or, has the team-first environment and camaraderie of the FIBA experience kindled his other strong personality traits like loyalty to his team?

The second redemption of Kobe Bryant

The key is that Kobe seems to be in a positive state of mind going into Lakers training camp in October, and we believe that he’ll be there, ready to make another run. Not only will he play for the Lakers next season, but the team-first attitude that he put on display at the FIBA Americas Tournament will carry over into the regular season with his NBA squad.

"[Kobe] tried to lobby all of us (to come to L.A.)," Team USA teammate Michael Redd said recently. "We all have tried to lobby everybody to come to our teams. I told Carmelo, there's going to be no tolerance for our teams when we get back to camp."

Wondering why Kobe would be lobbying other NBA stars to come to LA, if he so wants to leave town himself?

In the coming season, expect Kobe Bryant to take yet another step forward in the evolution of his game on the court and his leadership off it. Expect Kobe to trust his teammates on the floor and be more forgiving of their deficiencies.

Unlike last season, he will no longer be alone in shouldering the pressure of the storied Lakers organization and fans. Expect Kobe to lean heavily on his long-time pal Derek Fisher both on and off the court, to relieve some of that burden. Expect Kobe Bryant, just like he did coming off the adulterous debacle in Colorado, to redeem himself and rebuild his image in the upcoming season. He alienated many of his fans with his actions earlier this summer; expect him to erase that bitterness with his play on the court and his candor off it. The Team USA experience seems to have yielded a kindler, gentler Kobe Bryant. Expect him to translate that positive experience into a productive 2007-2008 season with the Lakers.

Lakers will need to reward Kobe’s loyalty

Of course, all of this doesn’t take the Lakers front office off the hook in the least bit. Kobe will continue to demand for added help. The Lakers will surely need to make some moves, because Kobe will keep the pressure on high (hopefully, behind closed doors). Whether it’s using Kwame Brown’s large expiring contract to yield another front-line starter in return, or orchestrating a creative trade for a player like Jermaine O’Neal, owner Jerry Buss and GM Mitch Kupchak will need to improve the talent on the Lakers roster. They owe it to their uber-competitive superstar and they owe it to Laker fans everywhere.

Team USA looks golden against Venezuela

As we reported previously, the FIBA Tournament of the Americas kicked off on Wednesday, August 23 with a handful of games. Team USA, with Kobe Bryant and LeBron James in tow, beat…check that demolished Venezuela 112-69 during the final game of the evening at the Thomas and Mack Center in Las Vegas, NV. Despite the fact that ESPN did its best to hide the game from potential TV viewers by showing it live on ESPN Classic at 11pm Eastern Time, we were able to track down the broadcast and watch the entire game.

The FIBA tournament has generally been a cakewalk in recent years for the US Senior National Team, but the final score in last night’s game is no indication of the kind of dominance shown by the US squad – they looked pretty damn good! Carmelo Anthony and Michael Redd each led the team with 17 points as part of a balanced scoring attack, but it was the defensive intensity, passion and hustle from this group of NBA superstars that was truly unbelievable. In the opening quarter in particular, we actually felt sorry for the Venezuelan point guard, as Kobe got up in his face from the opening tip, relentlessly harassed the ball and came away with a couple of steals. Kobe generally rattled his man to the point where the Venezuelan player was more content to pass the ball away than even think about making a dribble move or taking a shot. Kobe definitely set the tone, and Carmelo agreed.

"We just wanted to be aggressive from the jump," Anthony said. "Kobe Bryant really set the tone on the defensive end pushing up on guys and getting a couple of steals. We fed off that."

Despite shooters like Redd and Mike Miller on the team, we don’t think Team USA will win this FIBA tournament or the Olympic gold by out-shooting their opponents. International players, European players in particular, are simply better shooters from the shorter International 3-point line. So, it will be defense that wins the gold. And judging from last night, this Team USA is ready to play some serious clamp down, rattle your opponent, in-your-face pressure defense.

Team USA trims down for FIBA run

Four players, including guard Mike Miller, and forwards Kevin Durant, Tyson Chandler and Nick Collision, found themselves squarely on the bubble as the final round of cuts for the US National Team approached. In the end, Durant and Collision will be staying at home, as the US basketball team begins its long run back to Olympic gold, beginning with the FIBA Americas Tournament.

As much as we’ve been touting Kevin Durant, ever since the first game he stepped on the court wearing a Texas Longhorns uniform, he is too young and inexperienced for international basketball – besides, the team has too many experienced NBA pros with similar skills in Kobe, Carmelo and LeBron. Team USA did well in picking a shooter and a shot-blocker to round out the squad.

The FIBA Americas Tournament begins for Team USA with a game on Wednesday, August 22 against Venezuela. The game will be shown at 11pm Eastern Time on either ESPN Classic or ESPN 360 – it will be replayed on Thursday, August 23 at 1am Eastern on ESPN2 and 12pm Eastern on NBA TV. A full TV schedule can be found here.

The national team isn’t without its faults, but we’re more excited and confident in this Team USA squad than we have been in quite some time. Part of it is because of the depth and addition of shooters like Michael Redd and Mike Miller, but it mainly has to do with the fact that Kobe is finally playing for the national team. On a nightly basis he puts a mediocre Los Angeles Lakers team on his shoulder and refuses to let them lose. Imagine how valuable he’ll be in the 4th quarter of games on the national stage.

"Kobe is as good a player as there is on the planet and he's a team oriented player," said Team USA head coach Mike Krzyzewski. "He's just as good defensively as he is offensively. That's a nice thing to have."

Joining Kobe on Team USA for the FIBA Americas Tournament will be: LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony, Dwight Howard, Amare Stoudamire, Jason Kidd, Chauncey Billups, Michael Redd, Mike Miller, Tyson Chandler, Tayshaun Prince and Deron Williams.

We can’t wait for tip-off against Venezuela!