http://www.usatoday.com/story/sport...arlotte-hornets-first-win-of-season/18786901/
Kobe Bryant didn't do cartwheels out of the Staples Center on Sunday night, when his Los Angeles Lakers won for the first time in six tries this season by downing the Charlotte Hornets 107-92.
It was Nov. 9, for Magic's sake, meaning a win of any kind this time of year has about as much grand-scheme-of-things-value as all that chatter about how he might wind up finishing his storied career in a different jersey. With every lopsided loss, the Lakers starting the season 0-5 and sitting dead-last in the league in terms of average margin of defeat (14.8 points per game), the chatter within NBA circles about how Bryant might wind up retiring in a different jersey continued to grow even after he claimed it was nonsense.
And as Bryant said afterward, when he strolled out of the familiar loading dock with all the exuberance of an arena worker who just logged a 12-hour day, his loyalty to the Lakers wouldn't have changed had their season ended with the kind of 0-82 record that, at times, had almost seemed possible.
"It's not going to happen," Bryant told USA TODAY Sports when asked if the temptation to change teams might still grow from here. "It's not going to happen. You go through the good times, you've got to go through the bad times."
