Kobe Bryant is an epitome of loyalty.

With the new season opening, the LA Lakers are looking for a shot at winning another NBA Finals for which proves to be tough for Bryant. But he is not one to be discouraged.

He said "I hear the chatter of Kobe should ask out and he should go and play for a contender in this latter stage of his career. But that's not what I do. I'm extremely loyal to the Lakers."

"I believe in fighting through the tough times as well as enjoying the good times. It's my responsibility to get us to be the best that we can be. It's important that we approach that on a day-to-day basis."

Although faced with much certainty in their line up; Lakers guard Steve Nash is out on a nagging back injury while first-round pick Julius Randle broke his right leg in the opener and is out for the season. The Lakers are also out of Nick Young and Ryan Kelly, who have injuries.

But Bryant is not discouraged saying "We can't get discouraged by it. It's a very long season. You just have to stay the course. Keep on looking to improve, keep on looking to get better and things will eventually break. I've enjoyed a great amount of success here. You can't just enjoy the successful times and then run away from the bad ones. No, I don't even think about [departing]. I'm a Laker."

During the off season, Lakers tried to acquire several start players who went in to free agency and among them was Carmelo Anthony and LeBron James. But both players slip from their palms.

He said "It was really tough to land those free agents just because of the opportunities that they had. You got 'Melo going back to New York, LeBron going back home to Cleveland. The odds just weren't in our favor. But I took comfort in the fact that the Lakers did absolutely everything possible to make it happen. Absolutely everything possible."

"We offered Pau an incredible deal. I saw them put the work in. It's much different than in 2007 when I felt like they were just sitting on their hands. This is not that case. They were going after it and being aggressive. I will fight for that till the end. They tried, tried and tried and it didn't work out. I stand behind them 110 percent. I bleed purple and gold."