When the Lakers (9-10) play the Oklahoma City Thunder (15-4) tonight at Chesapeake Energy Arena,(Kobe)  Bryant will go against speedy UCLA product Russell Westbrook and scoring machine Kevin Durant and see mirror images of himself.

“They just don’t give a (hoot),” Bryant said. “That’s really it. Not too many players have had that. Michael (Jordan) had it. I had it. Durant has it. Westbrook has it. They just don’t care about pressure situations or criticism.”

Does Bryant sense those players learned that mentality after seeing him play?

“For sure,” he said. “They watched me growing up and saw how I dealt with criticism and all this other stuff. I just put my head down and kept playing … They’re cut from the same cloth.”

via Mark Medina of the Los Angeles Daily News