Los Angeles Lakers star Kobe Bryant might not play the full season. Coach Byron Scott indicated Bryant could be shut down after the All-Star break in an effort to keep the 36-year-old healthy for next season.
Bryant sat out three of the last four games, a decision Scott made in order to keep the aging veteran healthy.
"I talked to him this afternoon and told him he didn't even have to come tonight but he wanted to come anyway," Scott said Sunday before the game against Portland, via ESPN. "It's just my feeling that I wanted to give him another day of rest ... If the legs are good and his body is pretty good and he's not feeling any soreness or any stiffness or anything like that, then we'll go from there."
Scott's concern on the number of minutes Bryant plays has been evident for most of the season, and the first-year Lakers coach didn't rule out shutting down Bryant for the rest of the season with the team headed to the NBA draft lottery.
"I haven't thought about that yet," said Scott. "I keep thinking about game-to-game right now. So I haven't gotten to that point. Maybe after the All-Star break, maybe we will start talking about something like that if necessary. ...
"He's a basketball player that's played a lot of years so I have to be a little concerned about that. That's the reason that I'm taking such precautionary measures and making sure he doesn't play so many games. I want him to be right, not only for this season but for next season as well."
Bryant had been averaging more than 35 minutes per game up until his three-game break in late December. Since then, Bryant has played in just five games for an average of 31.4 minutes per contest.
