Coach Byron Scott Expects Kobe To Play Through Illness
- Updated: November 15, 2014
Los Angeles Lakers’ Kobe Bryant sits on the bench during the first half of an NBA basketball game against the San Antonio Spurs Friday, Nov. 14, 2014, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
Kobe Bryant has started to feel some *minor* effects of his NBA career, and new coach, Byron Scott told the media that it would take an extraneous circumstance to sit Kobe on the bench.
“You’d probably have to amputate his leg for him not to play tomorrow,” Scott said at practice on Saturday. “You guys know that. If he feels 20 percent better than he felt last night, he’s going to say, ‘I’m good.’ So again, I never scratch him out of anything except practice.
“When it comes to playing, he’s the one guy that I know that if he can walk, he’s probably going to play.”
Bryant struggled in Friday’s game, telling the world that he simply did not feel well, and because of this, was given today’s practice off in order to rest and recharge for Sunday’s game.
“It just might be the flu,” Scott said of Bryant’s illness. “It’s flu-like symptoms. So we’ll see how he feels tomorrow.”
“I just asked him how he felt and he said, ‘I just feel really sick,’” Scott said. “I said, ‘Come in Sunday morning and we’ll see how you feel and we’ll go from there.’ I probably won’t have him doing anything tomorrow morning. I just want to see if he can get here and see how he looks and see how he feels, and then we’ll see how it is for game time.”
In relation to his 1-14 performance against the New Orleans Pelicans, Scott said:
“I just knew he wasn’t feeling well,” Scott said. “I talked to him right after the team meeting, and you could see it. I just wanted him to go home and get some rest as much as possible. The doctors took a look at him to see what was going on. Hopefully that’s what he’s doing.”
The media were quick to question Scott on Kobe’s extensive playing time:
“First of all, I think he can handle the 30-to-40 minutes that we’ve talked about very easily,” Scott said. “He hasn’t shown any signs of letting down when it comes to that. So that’s the least of my worries — his minutes, and trying keeping them to a minimum.
But I also found out — which I already knew — was how tough this kid is. He wanted to try to gut it out as much as possible, until he really just couldn’t gut it out anymore.”
I’ve had the privilege and the honor of coaching a few guys that I think are probably Hall of Famers in Jason Kidd and Chris Paul,” Scott said. “I haven’t had the opportunity to coach anybody at this magnitude — as great as Kobe is — but I have had that opportunity. It hasn’t really been an adjustment for me.
My adjustment has really been just trying to keep his minutes minimal. And trying to get everybody to understand how he plays, and how we have to play when he’s out there, and how we have to play when he’s not out there.
[Father Time is] going to catch up to all of us,” Scott said. “It’s just some people sooner than later. It’s definitely catching up to him, but in that same breath, he has a lot left in that tank at 36 years old. He’s still playing at an unbelievable level.
Last night was just a game that he wasn’t feeling well from the start, and I think as the game went on, he started feeling worse. I think that caught up to him as well. But it catches up to all of us.”
And where does Kobe stand on all of this talk?
“Honestly, I don’t know,” Bryant told reporters. “This is the first I’ve faced this type of challenge in my career. Honestly I don’t know.”
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