Kobe Bryant and Jeremy Lin vs. Washington Wizards
Dec 3, 2014; Washington, DC, USA; Los Angeles Lakers guard Kobe Bryant (24) dribbles the ball alongside Lakers guard Jeremy Lin (17) as Washington Wizards guard John Wall (2) defends in the third quarter at Verizon Center. The Wizards won 111-95. Reuters

Fresh of the heels of Kobe Bryant's suggestion to relax, Jeremy Lin discloses that he is beginning to recapture the joy of playing basketball the past few games and it is translating to better performance. The Los Angeles Lakers guard's revelations are a positive impact to an otherwise disappointing season. Lin admitted that he was thinking the whole time at the start of the season and has learned to just let the game come to him and play without worries.

"I really think the last while I've been pretty relaxed. Smiling a lot more on the court, regardless of what's really going on," Lin told Lakers Nation. "I'm really learning to enjoy everything more. Even though things might not be changing or might not have changed, you can still change how you feel about stuff or your perspective."

After a close loss to the Memphis Grizzlies last week, the third all-time leading scorer in the history of the NBA said that Lin should learn to relax and need to capture it on his own terms and not be told to do so. Bryant complimented Lin as a smart player and explained that sometimes he takes the game too seriously.

Kobe on Lin: "He just needs to relax. Sometimes smart people take themselves too seriously."

— Arash Markazi (@ArashMarkazi) January 3, 2015

The recent comments of the Harvard standout appear to be spilling out to the court as Lin has performed well in the past three games. Lin tallied 20 points and 5 assists in a close loss to the Grizzlies last week. The said game generated the now social media famous implosion of Bryant when Lin refused to commit a late game foul per coach Byron Scott's instructions. The Taiwan-descent player followed that up with 10 points and 2 assists performance in a 1-point win over the Indiana Pacers, Sunday. In the last game, Lin recorded 14 points and 2 assists in 20 limited minutes despite Bryant being rested by Scott.

The said steady rise and consistency particularly in field goal efficiency (over 50% in the past 3 games) is the testament to the proclamation of the former Houston Rockets and New York Knicks player's new found joy in basketball. It continues to be seen if it will stay on in the forthcoming games.

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