clock menu more-arrow no yes mobile

Filed under:

Kobe Bryant takes Lakers to school in Day 3 of training camp

Kobe continues doing work during Lakers training camp, and tagged on some trash talk this time around.

Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports

Another day of Los Angeles Lakers training camp, another day of Kobe Bryant showing he's still got plenty of juice left. For Jordan Clarkson, it was something more like lemon juice in wounds that Kobe gashed open during the Lakers' first five-on-five scrimmage Wednesday.

The Black Mamba went right back after Clarkson during Thursday's scrimmage session, showing off more of those vintage moves of yesteryear:

The way he makes Keith Appling hang his head in the second shot just about says it all.

All-in-all, Kobe looks about as good as any Lakers fan could hope after being out for far too long. He's showing some lift in his jumper and showed off a fancy finish at the rim that was reminiscent of the Lakers' back-to-back NBA championship run.

Of course, no vintage-Kobe showing comes without trash talk, and he was dishing it out to his teammates.

That's the kind of tough love teammates should expect out of Kobe Bryant at this point. Young and Clarkson may be taking the brunt of it, but Swaggy P is taking it in stride and embracing the opportunity to be pushed by Bryant, who he barely had a chance to play with last season:

Julius Randle watch

The Lakers, and media, have been pumping Lakers fans veins with All-Kobe-Everything, but Julius Randle's first training camp as a Laker is another hot topic. He hasn't gotten nearly the attention Kobe has, but his conditioning is definitely improved from where it was during his run at Las Vegas Summer League:

That's about all we're hearing on the Randle-front. He's also been playing with the second unit, which includes Jeremy Lin, Nick Young, Ed Davis and Robert Sacre. Yes, that means he's been moonlighting as a small forward. No, it's not time to panic about that idea. It probably has more to do with the Lakers missing Xavier Henry and Ryan Kelly during the first few sessions, and allowing Byron Scott a chance to get a better look at his projected starting lineup.

Sign up for the newsletter Sign up for the Silver Screen & Roll Daily Roundup newsletter!

A daily roundup of Los Angeles Lakers news from Silver Screen & Roll