Sam Amick

USA TODAY Sports

Somewhere in the recesses of Kobe Bryant's mind, there is a list of possible Los Angeles Lakers saviors that seems to get shorter by the day.

Carmelo Anthony was near the top, but he made the choice to return to New York last summer. Rajon Rondo was someone who he was hoping could help, too, but the recent trade sending him from the Boston Celtics to the Dallas Mavericks means he's unofficially off the market.

They are the latest Lakers lifelines to land elsewhere, the kinds of talents who could have helped the Laker Nation out of this deep recession while aiding Bryant in what is fast becoming a brutal final chapter.

Yet still, with this idea that one of the game's greatest winners might go out with a whimper seeming more likely every time a prospective teammate gets away, the always-cocksure Bryant somehow sees it differently.

"I really do trust management," he reiterated to USA TODAY Sports. "I mean I really, really do. They'll get things turned around pretty quickly. I'm not really concerned about that."

He's about the only one in Laker Land who feels that way.

We'll know in the next 19 months whether Bryant's faith in management was misguided or merited, but the reality of his situation is setting in now that the noise about passing Michael Jordan for third all-time on the NBA's scoring list has finally quieted down. For all the recent handwringing over his shoddy shot selection, and the recent debate about whether he needs to take some time off, the only storyline that truly matters is the one about his future teammates and whether or not they'll arrive in time to change this script.

Might Goran Dragic, LaMarcus Aldridge, or Kevin Love come their way this summer, or Kevin Durant the next? The Lakers, who cornered the market on good, old-fashioned luck during their franchise's history, simply need to catch a break at some point.

Bryant admitted his disappointment in the Rondo development, as the recent recruiting breakfast that captured so many headlines in Boston and beyond was apparently for naught. Rondo is still set to be a free agent this summer, but the Mavericks are confident he will re-sign and it seems only a disastrous showing by Dallas can change that now. So, after the Lakers had inquired about a Rondo trade but ultimately lacked the assets to pull one off, was he disappointed to see him head for Dallas?

"Oh yeah," said Bryant, who has insisted that he plans on retiring after next season. "Of course. Of course. But all you can do is control what you can control. We did our part. We did what we could. ... It's not from a lack of effort. It's not from a lack of smarts, so I trust the process. It's hard going through this (expletive), but our management will figure it out."

The Rondo situation was the latest reminder that these Lakers are fighting an uphill fight, their odds of a turnaround during Bryant's time decreasing every time a prominent player picks another path. Bryant knows this, of course, yet still hasn't reached for that panic button that Lakers fans are pounding.

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The frustration is there, of course, and it was there for all to see a few weeks back when his post-practice rant that went viral said everything about his true state of mind relating to this talent-starved team. But what isn't there — at least publicly — is a sense from Bryant that all hope is lost when it comes to top-tier teammates coming his way.

He admitted this week that this load is simply too large, saying after a loss to the Sacramento Kings on Sunday that "I didn't anticipate having to do so much." Yet still, as Bryant said, there is a hyperfocus on the daily rigors that doesn't allow him to look too far down the road. After all, being a 36-year-old NBA player who is still not far removed from an Achilles tendon tear and serious leg injury is daunting enough. So what's inspiring him now, he was asked, during this in-between stage that will only improve if they win this free agent waiting game?

"Um, just playing," he said. "Playing and competing is what gets me going, and figuring out this body. This is unchartered territory, and I'm just trying to figure it out on a daily basis, and not trying to completely break down and still try to carry the load for my team, which is way too much."

If only Anthony hadn't been beckoned back to the Big Apple.

The Knicks star's choice couldn't look more foolhardy at the moment, as New York has lost 15 of its last 16 games and — at 5-25 and with a winning percentage of .167 — is on pace to have its worst season in franchise history. Just five months ago, Anthony was contemplating life with the Lakers while visiting with Bryant during free agency and considering the idea of two aging veterans aiding each other's cause.

But the Knicks could offer the fifth year that came with all that extra cash (he signed a five-year, $124 million deal), thereby giving them the edge over the Lakers and a Chicago Bulls team would have given him a chance at the title (they could only offer four-year deals). So Bryant's mentor and friend, Knicks president Phil Jackson, won his services and left Bryant (not to mention his fiance' and Lakers governor Jeanie Buss) playing the bridesmaid role that has become their norm.

For Bryant's part, he isn't about to criticize his good friend for the choice he made.

"I hear you (about Anthony making the wrong choice), but at the same time as players you have to make business decisions," he said. "You have to try to make decisions where it's a win-win for you and for the organization. It can't be a one-sided street, so Phil and the management over there in New York, they'll figure it out. They'll get the pieces around him. It's not happening right now. I don't think anybody expected that this year they'd be world-beaters. They know it's a process. He knows it's a process. They'll figure it out."

If you didn't know any better, you'd think he was talking about himself.

Follow Sam Amick on Twitter @sam_amick.