Guess What? Kobe Bryant is frustrated with the Lakers, too

Is there anyone around the Lakers — players, coaches, front office people, fans, people who sweep the floors at Staples Center — who isn’t frustrated with the Lakers?

Pau Gasol and Dwight Howard expressed their frustration earlier.

It’s been pretty clear for a while that Kobe Bryant was among the most frustrated of all. After Monday’s Lakers loss to the Bulls Kobe opened up about his feelings to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports and the NBC Sports Network.

“Obviously, this isn’t working,” Bryant told Yahoo! Sports.

“We need to go back to basics,” Bryant said. “We need to put guys in positions to do what they do best. We need to strip it down. Steve Nash is best in pick-and-roll. Pau is best in the post. I’m best from the free-throw line extended down. Let’s go back to basics.

“We’ve got to evaluate what’s going on. Management is looking at it. The players are looking at it. I’m looking at myself. I’m shooting a low percentage right now, and I’ve got to look at that.”

Gasol in the post. Kobe in the post. Is that Mike D’Antoni’s offense?

Kobe’s shooting percentage has dropped as teams have started to focus on him and risk letting the inconsistent Dwight Howard or Pau Gasol beat them. Steve Nash has his moments but is still trying to find his rhythm with this team.

As he has always done, when other struggle Kobe tries to pick up the slack. He takes on more because he believes in himself unwaveringly. So even as his legs get tired and the defenses focus on him he keeps trying. And that means more shots for him. And fewer for Gasol and Howard, as they don’t work for it, demand it.

Kobe will work hard to get the Lakers out of their funk and out of the hole, but the problem is he can’t do it alone. He needs an active Howard and an active Gasol and Mike D’Antoni to modify his system more. He needs the old Nash. He needs help, and he hasn’t gotten it all season.