Kobe Bryant tells critics to shut up

The Los Angeles Lakers 0-2 start already has fans questioning the team. Kobe Bryant laid into the critics on Thursday in an interview with the media.

“I’ll say it for (Brown): Everybody, shut up,” Bryant said via USAToday.com. “Let us work, and at the end of the day, you’ll be happy with the result.”

The Lakers brought in Steve Nash, Dwight Howard, Antawn Jamison and Jodie Meeks in the offseason. The starting five played only one preseason game together and are still learning a complicated version of the Princeton offense.

So, Bryant told fans to be patient.

“I just.. I don’t understand.. the city here.. for me not trying to bite my tongue and not calling them dumb, which I kinda just did. They’ve seen us win multiple championships here, playing an offense that was tough to learn, that was a sequence of options that weren’t set plays that took five guys being on the same page of working together. They know how that stuff works. For them to be so stupid now. They say, ‘Well, let Steve [Nash] dribble the ball around and create opportunities for everybody. And let Dwight [Howard] post up and let me iso.’ It’s … I don’t want to say idiotic, but it’s close.”

Bryant, who scored 30 points last game, says the problem isn’t the offense its the defense.

“We’re scoring a lot of points, efficiently. So, I mean, that’s not what we’re hanging our hats on in terms of why we’re losing the games. We’re not executing the defense, which has a lot to do with guys not being on the same page and working together.”

Bryant wants to win more than anything but he isn’t panicking.

“I’m always surprised when I lose,” Bryant said. “But, at the same time, it’s pretty entertaining to me. Nobody wants to win here more than me. Nobody. Nobody. And I’m not panicking over it or jumping off a bridge because we’re 0-2.”