AUBURN HILLS, Mich. – They want Kobe Bryant to rage into the ruins, traffic tantrums and tirades over this lost cause. Just wait, everyone says. Just watch the fury unleash and watch Bryant burn down this franchise. They think that'll be the end of his story, the end of his Lakers life.

Only Bryant refuses to give himself the easy way out of the season, the easy way out of a franchise player's burden. He hates losing, but he doesn't hate this season and he doesn't hate this team. Another Lakers victory at the Palace on Tuesday, a victory in which his teammates covered for his flu.

"The idea of me having no patience is misunderstood," Bryant told Yahoo Sports on Tuesday night. "I don't have patience when we're not putting the work in, if I see that we're not doing our job as professionals. If that's happening, I'll let my team know about it. But this is not that kind of group. We work. These guys want to get better every day. They're there early working, they're there late working.

"This organization put forth a lot of effort to try and land some of these top free agents. They went for it. I respect that. I appreciate that.

"Now it's time for me to go out there and do my job – not whine or complain about it."

Around the Lakers, they'll tell you they've never seen Bryant so patient with his teammates, so immersed in the incubation of a cross-section roster of kids, wannabes and has-beens. Yes, his shooting percentage is down. Sometimes, he's tried to do too much. This is a process for him, too. He had 31 points, 12 assists and 11 rebounds in a victory over Toronto on Sunday night. Fighting the flu, Bryant had 13 assists here on Tuesday night.

View photos Kobe Bryant continues to insist he will play only for the Lakers. (NBAE/Getty Images) More

And yet for all the frustration that comes with the decaying of the franchise's infrastructure, the start to Bryant's 19th NBA season has been a monument to his resolve and resourcefulness. When everyone expected to see a shell of a superstar, they've witnessed his regeneration.

"A knee fracture, an Achilles' injury and old age – nobody expected me to be moving the way that I am right now," Bryant told Yahoo. "To an extent, I didn't either. But I've done a lot of work. It's a puzzle that there's no example for. We're trying to figure this thing out on the fly.

"It's a lifestyle, an absolute around-the-clock lifestyle. There's no getting away from it. I've always enjoyed that aspect of it, the process of it, the building of it. But there will come a point when I don't anymore, and then it will be over for me."

This organization is a shell of itself, except for Bryant. Nevertheless, Bryant has become a fiercely loyal company man, defending the Lakers brand, its owners and management without condition. Mismanagement has played a part in the unraveling of the Lakers, but Bryant backs the Busses and make no mistake: He promises he'll never go ring chasing, never wear another uniform.

In a lot of ways, Bryant's auditioning for free agents this summer. They need to see that he's no dinosaur, that he can still deliver. The idea no one wanted to play with Bryant was a flawed premise, a shallow reality. The Lakers never pursued the frontline players on the market, sparing salary-cap space for superstar classes in 2015 and '16.

"Facts are, 'Melo stayed in New York, partly because it was a great financial decision," Bryant told Yahoo. "LeBron going home speaks for itself.

Story continues