Kobe explains night off: 'I had trouble walking'
Kobe Bryant is tough as nails, but 20 years of wear and tear kept the 37-year-old sidelined Tuesday.
Bryant sat out Tuesday's game against the Miami Heat for rest and head coach Byron Scott's plan is to keep Bryant out of Wednesday's clash with the Orlando Magic as well.
When asked about his condition, Bryant was rather frank in his response.
Kobe Bryant said he sat out because of his back: "I had trouble walking." He says it's 20 years of wear & tear. He says he isn't concerned.
— Baxter Holmes (@BaxterHolmes) November 11, 2015
Bryant is playing under 30 minutes per contest for the first time in 18 seasons, but his reduced workload is doing little to combat Father Time's merciless war on Bryant's body.
Bryant is attempting to make a third straight return from a season-ending surgery. He's also the first guard in NBA history to play in 20 seasons and has logged well over 50,000 career minutes between the playoffs and the regular season.
The only silver lining to Bryant's injuries is that it opened up more playing time for the Lakers' young guards, but Scott inexplicably left No. 2 pick D'Angelo Russell on the bench for the entire fourth quarter in Tuesday's blowout loss.
Nick Young played all 12 minutes of the 4th quarter tonight.
All.
Twelve.
Minutes.
Russell played zero.
— Hardwood Paroxysm (@HPbasketball) November 11, 2015