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Lakers head coach Byron Scott has a Herculean task in front of him, as he tries to bring the Los Angeles Lakers back to the forefront of the NBA after missing out on the playoffs last season. Kobe Bryant is finally healthy — for now — and Scott said after practice Tuesday that he’s impressed with Bryant’s progress.

“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.”

At 36, Bryant’s career is quickly coming to a close. His contract expires after the 2015-16 season, which would be his 20th in the league. Although Bryant has never publicly stated that he would be interested in becoming a coach after retiring as a player, Scott predicted that it wouldn’t be a good career move for the 16-time All-Star.

Via Yahoo!:

“He’s too tough,” Scott said after the Lakers’ first practice on Tuesday. “He would probably be a whole lot more demanding than Pat Riley, myself and guys like that. It would be tough. Plus, he would expect guys to play like him, to have that type of passion that he has for the game. And to have the love for the game that he has and to have that commitment.”

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To be fair, there aren’t many elite players who have been successful head coaches in the NBA. Jerry West led the Lakers to the playoffs three times in a short head coaching career, but has been excellent as an executive. Larry Bird has a 147-67 record as a head coach and was named NBA coach of the year in 1998, but resigned after losing to the Bulls in the finals. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar has won two titles as a coach for the Lakers, albeit as a special assistant.

“Guys today just don’t have that like he does,” Scott said. “He’s just a dying breed. I don’t think he would bode well if he wanted to coach.”

Former Lakers coach Phil Jackson paid Bryant a similar comment last week, saying that there’s not a single player that can match Kobe’s drive, even Michael Jordan.

“No one can approach that. I don’t expect anybody to be able to model their behavior after that, although Kobe modeled his behavior a lot about Michael Jordan, but he went beyond Michael in his attitude towards training, and I know Mike would probably question me saying that, but he did.”

For more on Byron Scott and Kobe Bryant, here’s USA TODAY Sports’ Sam Amick: