"I haven't made up my mind yet," Lakers coach Byron Scott answered the first question at Los Angeles Lakers shootaround on Tuesday morning.
The question and answer had not changed in two days, but the moment of truth was nearing. On Sunday, Kobe Bryant played one of the poorest games of his career. In the aftermath, Scott admitted he was flirting with the idea of sitting out the superstar for a game or two due to mounting fatigue.
On Tuesday night, the Lakers will host the Golden State Warriors with or without Bryant.
On Tuesday morning, the Lakers met for morning shootaround, but Bryant stayed home for more rest. Scott confirmed that Wayne Ellington would move into the starting lineup if the 36-year-old got the night off, but that decision had not been made.
Scott spoke with his special star on Monday night, and the coach said Bryant was more agreeable that he expected.
"I think he trusts me," Scott said about Bryant. "He said, 'Coach, whatever you want to do.' So, again, it makes me feel better because I know he trusts me."
The Lakers' coach mentioned that back-to-backs would likely take on a new dynamic, but again, Scott sounded like a broken record when asked about details: "I haven't made up my mind yet."
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Scott said that he told Bryant, "You made your point. Everybody in this league knows now that you can still play. There's no doubt about that. You still got a lot left in the tank."
Now, the goal, in Scott's mind, was to preserve Bryant for the remainder of this season and next. Scott said that he was hoping to reduce Bryant's current average of 35.4 minutes per game down to about 32 minutes per game. The coach said the analytics folks had told him that after 32 minutes, the returns are diminished. In this case, the coach appeared to be listening to the statistics.
The Lakers coach admitted being a bit slow to implement necessary changes for his star player.
Said Scott, "It's better late than never."
