Mamba had been critical of his own performance in immediate aftermath of game.
Los Angeles Lakers guard Kobe Bryant has reassessed his performance in his season debut on Sunday night, and insists it “wasn’t as bad” as first thought.
The 35-year-old was disappointed with his contribution during the 106-94 loss to the Toronto Raptors, in what was his first appearance in nearly eight months after recovering from a ruptured Achilles.
Bryant finished the game with nine points on 2-for-9 shooting, had eight rebounds and four assists, but his performance was littered with eight turnovers in 28 minutes.
Having initially given his performance an “F”, he has upgraded it to a “D” but believes that he has plenty to improve upon moving forward as he continues to work on his conditioning and rhythm.
“It wasn’t as bad as I thought it was,” Bryant said after going through a full practice Monday, according to ESPN.
“The turnovers and things like that, a lot of it was just mistiming. I made some pretty good reads, I got my guys some pretty good looks. In terms of a floor game, it wasn’t as bad as I thought it was.”
Coach Mike D’Antoni admitted that it would be a “process” for Bryant to go through but has no hesitations in building up his minutes game-by-game and believes his influence and execution particularly in clutch situations will improve in time.
There will be little time to rest as after facing the Phoenix Suns, the Lakers go on the road for four games in five nights with the trip starting in Oklahoma City against the Thunder on Friday.
The 18-year NBA veteran insisted he has no doubts he will be able to play a significant role and build chemistry with his new team-mates, but is aware he will need to take care of his body to cope with the strain of competitive action.
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