Kobe v Lamar. The 1-2 punch? Not if Kobe can help it.

"It's great to have a 1-2 punch . . . when Lamar's clicking like that, it makes my life a lot easier on nights like tonight. I needed guys to pick me up, and Lamar stepped up and did that and carried the load. Then at the end of the game I was able to come through."

- Kobe Bryant, after the Lakers beat the Timberwolves 92 to 89.

Doesn't Kobe always say the right thing? He should run for office in California like the rest of the celebrities. He'd make a great liar, I mean, politican.

No Kobe, you'd rather YOU had all the points and all the glory. 1-2 punch, ha? Didn't you have that with Shaq? Or was the problem that Shaq was the 1 and Kobe was the 2?

Lamar has really stepped up his offensive game lately. He has averaged 22 points on 67% shooting in the last 3 match ups. You know why? Because he seems to have finally developed a bit of confidence and has taken control of the ball on some possessions, rather than passing it to Kobe around the clock. Of course, it would look really bad for Kobe to be angry at the fact that Lamar has been stealing some of his spotlight, because Lamar has actually been delivering on those baskets and Kobe has been struggling from the floor (he has averaged 38% in the last 5 games, 48% against Minnesota his best). But wait until Lamar has a bad shooting night, Kobe will eat him alive and proclaim that, once again, sadly, he has to start taking more shots because his teammates are inadequate.