Measured, step-by-step approach for Kobe Bryant, Lakers
EL SEGUNDO, Calif. – The final act of the Kobe Bryant show had yet to begin, the future Hall of Famer and his Lakers teammates wearing jerseys merely for pomp and photo-ops on this unique and strange media day.
So when first-year coach Byron Scott shared a tale of what he had seen in recent days, his former teammate from yesteryear and recovered superstar playing like himself again in a Sept. 22 session in which he played three games of five-on-five, it was the movie preview that the Lakers are hoping leads to another blockbuster hit. Even if so many others are expecting this flick to flop.
"He did better than I expected," said Scott, whose last season as a player in the NBA (1996-97) was with Bryant in his first of 19 with the storied franchise. "I know he hadn't played ball in a long time, and when he got out there he said, 'Coach, this is the first time I've played in (what) feels like a year. He played that day and I was shocked. And obviously I felt very good after he left that day, playing three games. I felt very good with where he is at this particular point.
"The way he moved, the way he shot the ball, the way he posted up – mid-post. The way he rebounded. I mean he just played like he had been playing all summer long."
The not-so-simple cycle from here that comes after Bryant's Achilles tendon tear and left knee fracture took the 36-year-old out of the 2013 playoffs and limited him to six games last season? Wash, rinse, and repeat – 82 times.
"I'm expecting him to play 82 games and play well," Scott declared. "To be honest with you, he's a guy who's going to still probably average 23, 24 points (per game). Our biggest thing is making sure he stays healthy, and keeping his minutes to a minimum where he can play those 82 games.
Yet while Scott was the one talking so defiantly of how his team would beat the odds and make the most of those enormous chips on their shoulders, Bryant took a measured tone to this late-in-life challenge. In between the occasional mentions of the Lakers' championship-or-bust mentality and the nods to all the history that could was represented on the backs of their jerseys – "16X" (champs) – the Bryant bluster that has become such a staple of his storied career was nowhere to be found. In its place, a pragmatic approach that showed he's looking at this with a realist point of view.
When asked about his personal expectations, Bryant didn't guarantee a playoff berth or send a message to Oklahoma City star Kevin Durant that his MVP days were over. Far from it.
"To get better every single day," he said while speaking through the crush of the media mob that surrounded him. "It sounds cliché-ish, but if you really think about it in its truest form…really that's the key. When you're getting better every single day, you can't help but to do phenomenal things."
The question of how phenomenal is up for serious debate. At the Lakers' best, with Bryant being Bryant at the two-guard spot, new point guard Jeremy Lin and recovered returnee Steve Nash nearing their personal ceilings, Carlos Boozer having a renaissance at power forward and various other roles being filled to their maximum potential, there's not an objective observer out there who expects this team to survive the brutal Western Conference and make the playoffs. It's not an indictment of Bryant's ability to bounce back as much as it is a realization that the roster simply doesn't stack up.
The upstart Phoenix Suns couldn't get into that party last time around, and now they and every other squad (the Lakers, included) must deal with teams like the New Orleans Pelicans and Denver Nuggets that will likely recovering from injury-plagued campaigns to join the fray. To Bryant's credit, he knows that now is no time for him or any other Lakers types to be concerned with such speculation. Not when his recent history has showed him that the short-term outlook would be more prudent here.
"I haven't played for quite a while, and I think the size of the challenge that's ahead of me has really forced me to really focus in a lot more than I ever have," Bryant explained. "That's a 360-degree thing – that's nutrition, that's training, that's mentally preparing. That's everything. But to play at this age and through all the injuries, you have to have that commitment."
The Bryant-Scott dynamic that was such a significant part of the latest coaching hiring appears to be off to a healthy start. Bryant endorsed all the aspects of their relationship that were deemed worthy by the Buss family and general manager Mitch Kupchak, saying of Scott, "Byron was my rookie mentor. He took me under his wing my first year and really showed me the ropes – how to approach practice, how to prepare yourself, time management, all the little things I think were very important for a young kid to hear."
They'll be important for Bryant the old guy to hear too. Scott said Bryant will go "full bore" in training camp starting on Tuesday, when the team will conduct just one practice. Bryant and Nash will take part, but will likely skip one of the two practices on Wednesday. Back-to-back games and how they're handled is clearly an internal debate at the moment as well. And so it goes, with Scott deciding how to get the most out of his aging talents along the way.
"I found out from now being a coach – you can't really trust players," Scott said when asked about managing Bryant's playing time. "We'll tell you we're not hurt, and then we really are. So I've got to take it with a grain of salt and also go by what I see. I know Kobe. He's probably mentally and physically the toughest guy in this league, and I know that. So I know he'll play through a lot of pain, as he has done in the past, and still be able to perform. And it hurts him in the long run. And again, my job is, when this is all said and done, I want him to be able to play with his (daughters) at home and enjoy it…I'm not going to sacrifice him to play a basketball game."
