New York: Kobe Bryant, a five-time NBA champion with the Los Angeles Lakers, says he’ll never play for another team.
“I’ve said it so many times - I’m a Laker for life,” Bryant said Friday after the Lakers beat the Brooklyn Nets 104-98 for their first win of the fledgling season. “I bleed purple and gold.”
Bryant, 37, received a rapturous welcome from fans in what might have been his last appearance in the Nets’ Barclays Center arena.
But he couldn’t hide his impatience when asked after the contest about former coach Phil Jackson’s pre-season suggestion that Bryant might continue his career with another club after his Lakers contract - which pays him $25 million (Dh100 million) a year - expires at the end of this campaign.
“That’s Phil baiting you guys like he always does,” said Bryant, who has said he’ll make up his mind about retirement when the season ends.
In a Brooklyn arena packed with Bryant fans, the Lakers veteran shook off a slow start to score 18 points.
Rookie point guard D’Angelo Russell had his most productive game yet with 16 points, guard Jordan Clarkson also chipped in 16 and the Lakers upped their defensive intensity - much to the satisfaction of coach Byron Scott.
“We were just much more aggressive,” Scott said. “We played with much more sense of urgency.”
The Nets trailed by as many as 11 points in the fourth quarter and by nine with less than four minutes to play.
And with 25.7 seconds to go they had trimmed the deficit to 98-95 when Nets point guard Jarrett Jack forced a turnover.
In-bounding the ball with a chance to tie the game, the Nets were called for a five-second violation.
Bryant then drained four free throws to rebuild the Lakers’ lead as chants of “Kobe! Kobe!” echoed around the arena.
“It is great the fans appreciate him the way that they do and they’re showing their appreciation,” Scott said.
Even Jack said he could understand the admiration for a rival player at the Nets’ home arena.
“It’s a guy who’s a first ballot Hall of Famer,” he said of the crowd’s reaction to Bryant, who could be heading into retirement after this, his 20th season. “We understand what it is.”
But the defeat was a bitter disappointment for the Nets - who had hoped to reverse their own fortunes against the struggling Lakers.
Instead they fell to 0-6 and remain in search of a first win of the season, along with the Philadelphia 76ers and New Orleans Pelicans.
The Toronto Raptors vowed to come back stronger from their first defeat of the NBA season after dropping a 92-87 decision to the Orlando Magic.
“We’ll learn from this,” All-Star guard DeMar DeRozan promised after the Magic ended the Raptors’ club-record season-opening winning streak at five games. “One game is not going to define us.
“But one game can teach you things. You have to be prepared every night if you want to be a contender.”
DeRozan scored a game-high 23 points, including 20 in the second half. But he missed a crucial free throw that could have tied the game with 25 seconds to play.
