Kobe not passing torch to Lakers teammates: 'You've got to earn that'

Kobe Bryant has just nine games left in his NBA career, but he's got no plans to relinquish his hold on the league's proverbial torch, a signifier of leadership in one's field.

Bryant was asked after the Los Angeles Lakers' loss (their 58th of the season) Sunday night about receiving said torch from Michael Jordan once upon a time. The 37-year-old made clear that it was never handed to him, by anyone. According to Bryant, that's not how this works.

"He didn't pass the torch," Bryant said of Jordan, according to ESPN's Baxter Holmes. "Torches never get passed. You've got to earn that."

That's another way of saying that Bryant doesn't see himself passing the torch to any of his talented (if unproven) young teammates when he hangs up his sneakers less than three weeks from now.

"No," Bryant said, when asked if anyone on the Lakers roster is ready to carry the flame. "If you have to ask that question, the answer is already there. Those are things you don't have to ask. Those things just happen."

Given that the Lakers are wrapping up the worst season in franchise history, Bryant's reluctance to anoint a successor is understandable. It seems that if D'Angelo Russell or Jordan Clarkson or Julius Randle wants to take up the torch for the storied franchise, he'll have to pry it from Bryant's icy grip.

"Everybody is different. It manifests itself in different ways," Bryant said, when asked what ultimately qualifies one to pull the sword from the stone. "I think at the core of us all, though, it's that kind of competitive drive and the obsession about the game."