Lakers coach Scott considering starting Kobe Bryant at point guard
A lineup tweak this week saw Lakers point guard Jeremy Lin relegated to the bench, reserve Ronnie Price promoted to the starting lineup and, subsequently, a 98-95 win over the Sacramento Kings on Tuesday.
Neither point guard had a heck of a lot to do with the victory. They combined for five points on 2-of-10 shooting (0-for-6 from downtown) and Price was a team-worst minus-13 on the night.
Running out of options at the point, head coach Byron Scott is considering another radical shake-up: starting Kobe Bryant at the one.
"I even talked to him about it," Scott said according to Bill Oram of the Orange County Register. "I said, 'I’m thinking about it, but I’m not there yet.' So yeah I have thought about it."
Bryant, whose 4.9 assists per game actually lead the team, played point guard for the majority of the fourth quarter in Tuesday's win, finishing the game with 32 points and six dimes.
With Kobe dominating the ball so much already – leading the league in usage rate (36.3 percent) by a considerable margin – the positional switch could either take that trend to ridiculous new heights or change very little.
Bryant doesn't seem to feel strongly about it one way or the other.
"Just my position on the floor changes," he said. "That’s all."
"It just kind of depends on the situation," said Scott. "I feel real good when the ball is in his hands. Because No. 1 he can get his own shot, obviously, and No. 2 he can create shots for his teammates."
- with h/t to PBT