Lakers coach Scott says Bryant could sit some games, minutes will be managed

Kobe Bryant sounded very much on board with the Los Angeles Lakers hiring new head coach Byron Scott, the 10th bench boss Black Mamba will play for.

If Scott's comments to KPCC public radio last week were any indication, Bryant may change his mind. That's because Scott is planning to take a firm stance with Bryant when it comes to workload, suggesting he'll manage his 36-year-old star's minutes and perhaps even sit him down to rest for some games.

Said Scott to KPCC:

"We know how hard he works, we know how driven he is.  But I think he’s at the point too where he’s so much more mature, and he understands that he only has a few more miles left on that body, you know, maybe two, maybe three years. And I think he’s probably more acceptable to accept the fact that you can’t practice every day. There might be some games where you can’t play this game or that game. But that’s all to be determined....

"But again, he’s so competitive, he wants to win, and I do too. But I don’t want to win at the expense of having my one of my guys get hurt. And sometimes, like I said, we’re going to sit down, me and my trainer have already sat down, already started talking about the amount of minutes Kobe should probably play, going into this season. And I have to stand fast on that. I have to make sure that when he’s up to those minutes, that’s it, no matter what the game situation is, as much as I want to win, as much as he wants to win, I’m not going to sacrifice his health to try to win games."

As for whether Scott anticipated any push-back from Bryant, he clarified that "I ain't never been intimidated by anybody," repeating that he loves Bryant as a person and player and so he won't sacrifice his health for a victory.

For his part, Bryant will probably be more open to controlled minutes than in the past. He's been open about beginning to feel the effects of aging, and will be coming back from his second major leg injury in as many years.

Further, he's already 13th in league history in regular-season minutes played and third in playoff minutes, so we're getting to the point where there's no historical precedent for this much tread on a player's tires.

The important thing is Bryant is healthy and will be playing minutes, period. With just six games played since April 12, 2013, it's going to be fun to see how he looks when the season gets underway.

[Dap SLAM]