Lin and Bryant
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

Two big news came out of the Los Angeles Lakers camp the past few days that could very well define the direction of the team in the 2014-2015 NBA season— first, how Kobe Bryant destroyed his teammates, particularly Jeremy Lin, in practice calling them “soft”; and second, how the Lakers star could takeover the starting point guard spot for the Hollywood franchise.

According to a report from ESPN Los Angeles, Bryant blasted teammates Lin, Nick Young and even talked trash to general manager Mitch Kupchack during the scrimmage.

"I'm supposed to practice and get better, Mitch. I'm supposed to practice and get better. These m-----f------ ain't doing s--- for me,” Bryant was quoted saying in the ESPN article.

"This m-----f----- don't got s---. He ain't got s--- right now. Shoot! Shoot!” Bryant was quoted saying to Jeremy Lin during the practice which was open to the media. "I talked his ass right into that bulls---. I talked his ass right into that bulls---."

Bryant has seen limited practice time with the Lakers this season, the recent scrimmage was his first for the month of December and the 36-year-old Lakers star admitted it’s because he wants preserve his body. Bryant also said that he was just being himself with his trash talk in practice and hoping that it “raises the intensity level” of his teammates.

Meanwhile, Lin has lost the starting point guard spot to Ronnie Price in the last two games. The Asian-American player started the previous 20 games before coming off the bench in a 104-87 loss to the New Orleans Pelicans last Sunday and a 98-95 win over the Sacramento Kings last Tuesday.

Lakers head coach Byron Scott appears to be poised to giving Bryant major minutes as the team’s playmaker. The veteran mentor admitted that he’s seriously considering dropping a pure point guard in the starting backcourt for the crucial stretches of the game in favour of Bryant.

“I even talked to him about it. I said, ‘I’m thinking about it, but I’m not there yet.’ So yeah I have thought about it,” Scott said via ocregister.com. “It just kind of depends on the situation. I feel real good when the ball is in his hands. Because No. 1 he can get his own shot, obviously, and No. 2 he can create shots for his teammates.”

Lin has had an average season so far logging in 11.1 points and 4.8 assists in a total of 22 games for L.A. Bryant averages 25.5 points, 5.0 rebounds and 4.9 assists for the Lakers, which currently holds a 6-16 win-loss record-- tied for the second-worst in the Western Conference.