Los Angeles Lakers star Kobe Bryant blasted his teammates when he returned to practice on Thursday for the first time in a month.

Bryant has skipped practice in order to rest between games, according to coach Byron Scott, but he brought a high level of intensity to the session on Thursday.

"No, I was just being myself," Bryant told reporters.

"I don't know if it helps them, but it obviously raises the intensity level. It was a tough practice for them. It's really good for Nick [Young], aside from the fun of bantering back and forth and the trash talk, just fundamentally some of the techniques and things that I use. He gets a chance to really see up close those little tricks."

After several expletive-ridden rants at both Young and Jeremy Lin as well as the entire team, Bryant insisted that he just wanted to toughen his teammates up.