Bryant uses unfair label as his motivation for 50
Kobe Bryant will try to extend his 50-point streak to five games tonight.
EL SEGUNDO, Calif. (AP) -- Kobe Bryant was seething. He was sick of the losing, upset with the NBA and, perhaps most of all, offended by talk that he was a dirty player.
All that's changed in a matter of 10 days. The Los Angeles Lakers are winning again, and perhaps the most amazing achievement in Bryant's 11-year NBA career -- four straight games of at least 50 points -- has quieted those debating how he plays the game.
"You have to try to funnel that, use it as motivation. Personally, that added a little to it," Bryant said regarding the dirty player label.
Aims for fifth 50 in row
Bryant will attempt to extend his 50-point streak to five games tonight when the Lakers entertain the Golden State Warriors. Should he do so, he would tie Wilt Chamberlain for the second-longest such streak ever.
Chamberlain, the only other player to score at least 50 points in four straight games, accomplished that feat five times in the 1961-62 season, when he averaged an NBA-record 50.4 points. He scored at least 50 in a record seven straight games in December 1961.
"I don't know. I don't care," Bryant said after practice Saturday when asked if he could catch Chamberlain.
Bryant was born in August 1978 -- long after Chamberlain retired. But Bryant's aware of what the late 7-footer accomplished.
"I call him the human video game," Bryant said. "When you look at Wilt, look at the numbers he put up. It's mind-boggling. It's laughable."
Chamberlain's best
Chamberlain's best four-game streak came from Feb. 25 to March 2, 1962, when he scored 67, 65, 61 and 100 for a total of 293. Bryant has scored 225 in his last four games, shooting 76-of-140 (54.3 percent) from the floor and 56-of-60 (93.3 percent) at the foul line.
"I've seen guys score, do a lot of things," said Lakers coach Phil Jackson, whose Michael-Jordan-led Chicago Bulls won six NBA championships in the 1990s. "The shooting's been remarkable. He's been able to shoot it well, shoot it often."
Bryant, doing most of his damage from outside, said he can't explain his recent success.
"I see everything in slow motion, like I never have before," he said. "Pretty trippy. My release on the ball feels fine, the arc feels good. I'm extremely comfortable with my jump shot."
Bryant was angered when he received his second one-game suspension from the NBA this season for hitting Minnesota's Marko Jaric with an elbow March 6. He returned at Philadelphia three nights later, and a foul he committed on Kyle Korver was later deemed flagrant by the league.
That prompted the dirty player talk, and on March 14, three days after the Lakers were humiliated 108-72 by Dallas, Bryant reacted angrily when informed sports talk show hosts around the country were revolving conversation around that subject.
"It's insulting. That's just ridiculous. I'm not a dirty player -- never have been, never will be," Bryant said before Lakers flew to Denver, where they were lost 113-86 for their seventh straight defeat, the longest of Jackson's career as a head coach.
The start of Bryant's streak
Bryant began his 50-point streak the following night, scoring an NBA season-high 65 points in an overtime victory over Minnesota. He's kept it going against Portland (50), Memphis (60) and New Orleans (50) as the Lakers (37-32) matched their longest winning streak of the season.
Bryant sat out less than three minutes Thursday night in Memphis, and 68 seconds Friday night at New Orleans.
"I feel great, I feel fantastic," Bryant said. "You just have to play full bore -- understand you're going to get some rest after the game."
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