Kobe Bryant has one word for Lakers fans who are panicking over the team's recent skid: relax.
The Lakers legend came to coach Luke Walton's defense on Twitter when he saw a fan being critical of the team's bench boss. The future Hall of Famer pointed out that many of the Lakers are injured, most notably LeBron James, and that the team was on the right track before its stars were sidelined.
"Relax. Entire squad is damn near out. Were playing pretty well before that #gethealthy #lakerfam," he wrote.
Bryant does have a bit of a point. The movements of LeBron have a gravitational effect on the entire NBA, to say nothing of the Lakers themselves. His being out since Christmas with a groin injury is bound to disrupt the team.
This Lakers team isn't as full of "other guys" as the 2018 Cavs, but even L.A.'s other key players are out. The absence of Rajon Rondo and Kyle Kuzma is putting serious pressure on guys like Lance Stephenson and Lonzo Ball to carry the team and that lack of help shows in their recent losses.
Meanwhile, Bryant was a fountain of positivity all day yesterday. When he wasn't telling Lakers fans to keep their heads up, he was trying to help Bears kicker Cody Parkey handle his unfortunate field goal miss.
"We’ve all been here Cody but if you wanna win back the city you gotta get back in the lab and have a historic season next year to bury this one," he wrote. "I’m happy for my #EaglesNation but as a fellow pro athlete you gotta grind harder and double down."
