Will Kobe kick butts?

The Lakers didn’t practice today, but they are scheduled to return to the court Monday before hitting the road to face the San Antonio Spurs on Tuesday and the New Orleans Hornets on Wednesday. Kobe Bryant vowed to kick some rear ends in practice in an attempt to get everyone out of their recent funk. He railed profanely about their lack of mental and physical preparedness during Saturday’s loss to the Miami Heat.

This could be the best quote from his postgame rant:

“These games mean more to our opponents than they do to us. We need to get that straight. We need to play with a little more focus and put more importance on these games. I don’t like it. We know what we’re capable of doing. OK, well do it. We need to get going here.”

But this one was pretty good too:

“The game has to be the most important thing. You have to focus on it. You have to play every game like it’s your last. You have to be attentive to what’s going on. This is serious stuff. You don’t just have two rings and say, ‘OK, we’re satisfied with what we’ve got.’ I’m not rolling with that. I’m not going to let that slide. We need to get it in gear. It’s your job. Show up and work. You’ve got to show up and get to work.”