Kobe Bryant talks Lakers’ struggles with Stephen A. Smith, Part 2

In the second part of Kobe Bryant’s conversation with ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith, the Lakers guard talks about frustration at the team’s recent misfortune.

“When you get to a stretch where you kind of have that cloud hanging over your head, you really have to become more and more determined to turn the tide,” Bryant said. “Your normal determination that you play with isn’t going to work.”

Bryant couldn’t say his teammates are able to match his own intensity in trying to get the Lakers on the right path.

“I’m a bit of a psychopath when it comes to that,” Bryant said. “I don’t expect my teammates to have that level of concern. But I hope that they’re feeling determined and not discouraged, and that’s something we’ll talk about.”

When asked by Smith if he’s satisfied with the team’s roster, Bryant answered positively.

“I am. I think the roster’s fine,” he said. “I think the roster itself has a lot of versatility to it. If you take the first unit, we obviously have a great deal of size.”

“We’ll utilize that, once we get everybody back,” Bryant continued. “I feel like our bench coming in our game can give us a good punch. I think Jodie Meeks has been playing outstanding this year. Jordan Hill, I love his contribution. I love his defensive effort. I love his offensive rebounding. [Chris] Duhon has really stepped into a role and has performed really, really well despite just kind of being thrown in there.”

The key for the Lakers and Bryant is getting Steve Nash (leg) and Pau Gasol (knees) back on the floor from injury.

“I don’t want to overreact to the record,” Bryant said.

Bryant also discussed his feelings on the Mike Brown firing and the Phil Jackson nonhiring.

Smith’s interview is broken into four sections with more to come.

ALSO:

Reporter links Delonte West to the Lakers

A top-five seed may already be out of reach for the Lakers

Kobe Bryant talks Lakers’ struggles with Steven A. Smith, Part 1

Email Eric Pincus at [email protected] and follow him on Twitter @EricPincus.