Some quotes of note

From the Slam piece:

Bryant: “Obviously with Steph here the last couple of years there have been a tremendous amount of expectations. When he declared for the draft those expectations for this season went right out the window. We have no pressure on us, we’re not supposed to be any good in conference, we’re supposed to be a lot worse of a team now that he’s gone. In one sense that’s nice to not have any weight on our shoulders, but we feel like we’re going to surprise a lot of people.”

Will: “We knew we were a team and we all had our roles, there was never any resentment of Steph. Whether your job was to be a practice player or anything else, we knew that you helped the team reach where we did. Steph is going to be irreplaceable. He’s a great guy, a great teammate and a great player. But the fact that he brought leadership to the team and he always knew how to act on and off the court benefitted us a lot.”

Here’s Stephen, last March, on expectations.