Lakers Coach Talks Kobe Bryant, Julius Randle

With the Los Angeles Lakers debuting in the 2015 NBA Summer League on Friday, Lakers coach Byron Scott took time on Thursday to answer questions and provide updates on Kobe Bryant, Julius Randle, D'Angelo Russell and the young players heading out to the desert. As a note, Scott met with reporters prior to the Lakers' officially signing Anthony Brown and Lou Williams (with more deals expected in the evening...check back to NBCLA.com later).

Starting unit for practice: Clarkson, Russell, Brown, Randle & Black. #lakers #SummerLeague practice pic.twitter.com/GeHK6C24FK — Shahan Ahmed (@shahanLA) July 9, 2015

Following a lengthy scrimmage, Scott appeared in good spirits as he entertained questions from a healthy contingent of media.

On Kobe Bryant

"We'll have to sit down and formulate a plan. The one thing I want to do is make sure that he's able to play this whole year, hopefully injury free. I don't want to overload him with minutes. I don't want to overload him here in practice, as well. But, I want him to still get all those things in so he can stay sharp. It's a fine line on how to do that, but we're probably not going to discuss that for another three or four weeks."

"I know that his range of motion is great, but [the doctors] still don't want him to shoot yet. That's probably the end of this month where he'll start shooting. He kind of went back to old school training with squats and lunges and leg press and things like that ot keep his legs strong. But other than that, upper body wise, he's not doing anything--especially weights.

On Julius Randle

"I think just the fact that he hasn't played and just has had the ability to sit there and kind of watch and be in practice and watch everything that's going on has taught him a lot. He's obviously matured."

"I know Metta (World Peace) was in here playing. If Metta says you're strong, you're pretty strong. Metta said, 'That kid is super strong.'"

"His body has definitely changed, so that tells you how serious he is as far as basketball, as well. I saw him the other day. I don't go ‘wow' with a lot of things, but he had his shirt off. I said, ‘Wow, okay. That baby fat is kind of gone.'"

"Physically, he looks good, and I think he's ready mentally."

"His range (for shooting) is about 17-18 feet. We're going to keep working on that so he can perfect that as much as possible. I think next year, we'll start venturing out a little more. Right now, as a playmaker and a guy that can bring the ball up, I told him every rebound he gets, he should push it because he has the ability to make plays for himself and his teammates. But I'm going to limit his time. I'm not going to play him 30-something minutes every night. We're still going to move into this very gradually these next three games. He won't play in the second game because it's a back-to-back."

"He won't play more than 30 minutes (per Summer League game)."

On No. 2 Pick D'Angelo Russell

"I still see a lot of great thinks about the kid when I watch him play. He makes other guys better, and everybody seems to want to play with him because he's a point guard. He shares that ball. So, I think the thing that's really funny to me is he's made a few passes to guys that have gone up to him and said, "How'd you make that pass?' He just sees the floor extremely well."

On All-Rookie Guard Jordan Clarkson

"He's been knocking that [shot] down on a regular basis--and from deep. He's improved his range big time. He's shooting it good. He's shooting it really good."

On Summer League Invitee Robert Upshaw

"Big body, has some skills. One thing he has to do is get in better shape. That's the biggest thing with him. He has a reputation of being a great rim protector, but we haven't had a chance to see that yet because Tarik (Black) has been putting that body on him. So, it's been fun to watch those two guys go at it, but I'm anxious to see how he is in Summer League, as well. Obviously, he's going to get some playing time."