After sitting his sixth game in the past 11 due to fatigue, it was only a matter of time before the conversation about shutting Kobe Bryant down for the season would arise.
Byron Scott and the Lakers management haven’t had the discussion as of yet but a plan to bring it back up post All-Star break.
Byron said it's too early to know if he would shut Kobe down for season. Said after All-Star break, he would revisit that idea
— Mark Medina (@MarkG_Medina) January 12, 2015
Kobe Bryant is currently 36 and in his 19th year in the NBA. After coming off two consecutive season ending injuries he had no business playing heavy minutes in his return. However Lakers coach Byron Scott played Kobe an average of 37.1 minutes in November and had him topple the 40-minute mark four times that month. It seems like everyone but Byron knew that was too much of a workload for Kobe, but unfortunately the damage has already been done.
Thankfully, Byron has admitted to regretting his decisions on managing Kobe’s minutes and wants to get things right.
Byron said he will likely sit Kobe on 1 game of back to backs moving forward. Which one depends on how schedule is structured
— Mark Medina (@MarkG_Medina) January 12, 2015
With this plan in place along with a minute reduction, hopefully NBA fans will get to see this NBA great leave the game with his health intake.
