Caron is Following the Leader

LA Times: Caron Butler limped to his locker, clutching a small plastic bag filled with confirmation of a busy night.

There were three rolls of athletic tape, two rolls of pre-wrap and one satisfied customer with zero complaints despite sustaining a sprained ankle.

In the ever-evolving search to find capable scorers to complement Kobe Bryant, Butler stepped out from behind the curtain Sunday with 22 points on 10-for-14 shooting in the Lakers’ 106-90 victory over the Atlanta Hawks before 18,997 at Staples Center.

Butler’s only misstep — he landed on the foot of Hawk guard Royal Ivey while jumping for a rebound — led to a moderate sprain, but he stuck around long enough to make sure the Lakers avoided their first 1-3 start since 1995.

“I thought it was a great, great game for him,” Laker Coach Rudy Tomjanovich said. “[He had] energy and really nice rotation on his shots from the corner and then just attacking that basket. He’s a developing player and that was a great step in the right direction.”

But the story was Butler, who began the evening by arriving three hours before tip-off and setting up shop at the basket across from where Bryant shoots before games. As Bryant worked on his one-on-one post moves with an assistant coach, Butler shot for almost half an hour from the arc, from the baseline, from the elbow.

“I had to find rhythm,” said Butler, who had averaged 8.7 points while shooting 39.1%. “I had to get out there early. I try to follow the leader, Kobe. I told him I was coming out and he said that was a good idea. I think I’ll do it the rest of my career.”

How much do you think Caron will benefit from Kobe? Butler seems to want to learn everything he can from Kobe, and with his worth ethic and copying Kobe, we could see drastic improvement from our 3rd option. What do you expect out of Caron this season? Discuss in the Forums!