Kobe Bryant Won’t Be Down This Season
After having an extreme usage rate at the beginning of the season, Lakers head coach Byron Scott had to start resting Kobe Bryant. He’s no longer playing in back-to-backs and is now on a strategic rest regimen.
Much like Carmelo Anthony, who has struggled with his knee, Bryant is a superstar on a team with absolutely no foreseeable chance of making the postseason. Kobe and Carmelo’s scenarios still differ in their tenures – Bryant has one year left on his contract after this season ass opposed to Carmelo who signed his five-year extension in New York.
But despite how irrelevant it may be for Kobe to keep competing, Ramona Shelburne of ESPN.com reports no such talk of shutting Kobe down for the season:
Kobe is out again tonight. But I’m told there’s no thought of shutting down. He’s just trying to figure out how to get right. He’s not hurt.
It’s probably hard enough to get Kobe to embrace the idea of sitting out. The only thing that can be keeping him from flat out retirement at this point and in this environment is the pure love and desire to still compete. There’s literally no point for Kobe to carry on this season, but apparently he will.
