NBA Season Predictions, Standings 2013-2014: LA Lakers Looks Muddled With The Return Of Kobe, His Messy Relationship With D’Antoni Might Be Affecting The Team

NBA Season Predictions, Standings 2013-2014: After the return of Kobe in the Lakers lineup spoiling a potential win streak for the team, they are now 0-3 as they continue to look for more wins.

The question for the Lakers right now is if Kobe and D'Antoni's partnership will go to a solid partnership or a power struggle? This will surely affect the team if the two won't work together.

Kobe Bryant, however, is just trying to bounce back from an injury but wasn't able to get wins for his team - at least not yet.

On his first game, Kobe recorded nine points and eight rebounds yet he got eight turnovers as well. You can see his improvement on the next game as he scored 20 points on limited minutes. On to their humiliating loss to the Thunder last Friday, Bryant recorded only four points but had 13 assists, again on limited minutes, but still collected seven turnovers.

''My rhythm is completely out of sync,'' Bryant said after his first game back. ''But this is a start, and I guess a start is good.''

It might not work now for the Lakers but Kobe stated that getting back wins for his team is not easy as it will take a while to get their chemistry, added to that is the lack of point guards in their lineup after Steve Blake got an elbow injury.

''It's a process,'' Bryant said. ''You just continue to figure out what you can and can't do. Every game, you try to step up and do a little bit more and just go from there.''

It might be tough for coach Mike D'Antoni but it's clear that the relationship of the coach and Kobe is well as he defends his player even they went under .500 win percentage after their superstar's return. Lakers were 10-9 before he played and are now 10-12 after a loss at OKC.

"It's not like we we were gangbusters before," coach Mike D'Antoni came to the defense of Bryant's teammates.

"I have to disagree with that," D'Antoni said. "We were 6-2 in the last eight [games before Bryant's return] and I thought we played extremely well, winning three [in a row] on the road. ... So, that's not quite right. I'm really proud of what the guys did."

NBA Season Predictions, Standings 2013-2014