Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports

The Charlotte Hornets lost in disappointing fashion on Sunday night to the Los Angeles Lakers, but if there was one positive to take away from the game, it was Michael Kidd-Gilchrist’s defense on Kobe Bryant.

Bryant is currently second in the league in scoring with 26.5 points per game. He is the motor that keeps these woeful Lakers chugging along, but against the Hornets he had his worst scoring output since the Lakers’ home opener. He scored a team-high 21 points on an eye-popping 20 shots, and turned the ball over four times. Much of that was Kidd-Gilchrist’s doing.

Charlotte’s third-year guard couldn’t have done a better job guarding Bryant. He was quick to close out on him on the perimeter, but not in a way that gave Bryant an open lane to the basket. He prevented him from getting good looks at 3-pointers, all the while forcing him to hold the ball until late in the shot clock. Kidd-Gilchrist didn’t bite on any of Bryant’s signature pump fakes, staying on the ground and using his long arms to contest shots. Kidd-Gilchrist fought his way through screens and moved his feet quick enough to where his body was always in front of Bryant’s, thereby not allowing him to get into the paint.

Most impressive was that Kidd-Gilchrist played much of the game without needing defensive help. By containing Bryant in isolation, it allowed the rest of his Hornet teammates to stay home on their assignments. As a result, once Kidd-Gilchrist cut off Bryant’s first option, the Lakers star had to settle for tough looks or pass it out to the perimeter for one of his teammates to make a play.

With Kidd-Gilchrist guarding him Bryant shot just 3-for-11 from the field. On most nights, that would be enough to put the Lakers to bed. On this occassion, the Hornets just couldn’t get going offensively in the second half and the Lakers were firing on all cylinders.

Even with an improved jump shot this season, Kidd-Gilchrist still has a long way to go offensively. Against the Lakers, he attempted only four shots and made just one of them, culminating in three points on the night. With Kemba Walker and Lance Stephenson not being knockdown shooters, teams can afford to pack the paint once the team’s leading scorer, Al Jefferson, has the ball on the low block. So far this season, that game plan has thrown the Hornets’ entire offense out of whack and is a big reason why they are off to a disappointing 3-4 start.

In saying that, the work Kidd-Gilchrist does on the defensive end can’t be overstated. He draws the best perimeter player on a nightly basis and does about as good of a job of containing them as anyone else in the NBA. His defensive presence will keep the Hornets in games as they try to figure out their new offensive gameplan.

At 6-foot-7, 232 lbs., Kidd-Gilchrist is a physical monster, and as we saw on Sunday night, that’s a tough combination for anyone to score against, even for a 16-time All-Star like Kobe Bryant.