Los Angeles Lakers star Kobe Bryant dismissed Henry Abbott's scathing ESPN report as just being part of the "cycle." While Bryant didn't feel the need to defend himself against the article's accusations, his new teammate, Jeremy Lin, disagreed with what Abbott reported.
Abbott published a report Monday for ESPN The Magazine that cited a number of NBA sources who blamed Bryant for the Lakers now being a lottery pick team. The sources cited Bryant's hard-to-work-with attitude and his willingness to let teammates take the blame for any struggles as the reasons why free agents didn't want to sign in Los Angeles.
When Bryant finally responded to the accusations, his response seemed more nonchalant than angry.
"It's not the first one and it won't be the last one," Bryant said after Tuesday's 114-108 overtime loss to Phoenix, via ESPN. "One thing I've come to understand over the years is that you'll have a bad story that comes out on a Monday and it seems like it's the end of the world and it seems like everybody's taking shots at you. But time goes by and then you look back on it and it was just a Monday.
"Then you have another great story that comes out maybe a month later, or something like that, and it's a fantastic story. And then there's a bad story that comes out one month after that. So you understand that it's a cycle, and things are never as good or as bad as they seem in the moment in time."
Lin described his limited time so far with Bryant as a positive experience, even going as far as calling the future Hall of Famer a mentor.
"I've said it from the very beginning: What I've seen, my personal experience with him, which is the only thing I can speak on, it's been great," Lin said. "From Day 1, from the minute I was traded until now, it's just been constantly him trying to be a leader, being a good leader, a communicator, teaching me, teaching me, teaching me and doing it in a mentorship-type way.
"That's my experience. So I can't speak for anybody else, but it's been great for me."
Bryant's former coach, Phil Jackson, also weighed in on Abbott's article.
“@flea333: henry abbott your @espn kobe article is absolute garbage and a blatant irresponsible attack. "Go get'em, Flea
— Phil Jackson (@PhilJackson11) October 21, 2014
Read highlights from Abbott's article HERE.
