On Thursday, Los Angeles Lakers general manager Mitch Kupchak effectively cut the ribbon on a new season when he sat down with reporters for his annual preseason press conference. With media day around the corner on Monday, Thursday provided an "open forum" to field questions from the LA media and put out the front office's view of the team on the eve of training camp.
Not surprisingly, the early round of questions centered on a player entering his 20th season with the Lakers' organization: Kobe Bryant.
"I don't know; I really don't," Kupchak answered a query into what the GM expected of Bryant for the upcoming season. "I know we're going to get a great effort. He looks great. He was here yesterday. We visited a little bit. He's in great shape. He's in great spirits."
Kupchak iterated several times that the Lakers trust Bryant in terms of conditioning and being ready. Likely, the 37-year-old will not be asked to do all the two-a-day workouts during the Lakers' camp in Hawaii--at least not all of them. However, talk of a minute-restriction and sitting on back-to-back games had not officially come up according to the GM, though both points expected to be discussed before the regular season gets underway.
"[Bryant] says he's 100 percent," Kupchak added. "He's been shooting. He's been playing basketball. He's been doing his normal routine in Orange County for six or seven weeks now, so I know what that means. I've watched him work out. I know what he puts himself through."
Kupchak smiled when asked about Bryant potentially deferring more this season: "I don't think it will be any different than in years past."
As an organization, the Lakers have not exactly entered the past two seasons realistically competing for a title. In truth, the past two seasons finished as the two worst in LA Lakers' history, and the Lakers cashed in both lottery tickets for two big spins on the wheel. This season may be more about seeing where the wheel lands than actually cashing in the check.
Sports
Get today's sports news out of Los Angeles. Here's the latest on the Dodgers, Lakers, Angels, Kings, Galaxy, LAFC, USC, UCLA and more LA teams.
"I'd like us to stay healthy, I'd like Kobe to have a great year, I'd like our young players to prosper and show promise so we can develop a core going forward," Kupchak spoke about what would make this season successful for the Lakers. "I would like to see Roy Hibbert have an all-star year."
"Anything is possible," he added optimistically.
Kupchak also went into greater detail on the young core, namely D'Angelo Russell, Jordan Clarkson and Julius Randle. Russell, who the Lakers drafted with the no. 2 overall pick in the 2015 NBA Draft, came up first with the GM reminding the public that Russell was only a 19-year-old kid. However, Kupchak did state that the Lakers drafted Russell with the assumption that he could play in the same backcourt as Jordan Clarkson, and the Lakers' GM promised that Russell would get time on the court, though his role as a starter or bench player was still up for debate.
"Ending the season, I was cautiously optimistic that we had something that even on a good time is going to perform well," Kupchak cryptically commented on Clarkson. "I don't think anybody has worked as hard--Julius has maybe--but this kid has been in here and just worked his butt off. [Clarkson] is very very focused on the season."
Kupchak stated that he would not be surprised if Clarkson built off what he had done in the recent seasons, but the grey haired executive warned of making any judgments until the performance had been repeated for three or four seasons.
The third piece in the Lakers' young core is obviously Randle, and Kupchak talked about the Lakers' top pick from the 2014 draft glowingly, as well. As a 19-year-old, the former Kentucky Wildcat broke his leg in his first NBA game. Nearly a full year of rehabilitation has the Lakers excited about their young power forward.
"For the last two months, [Randle]'s been in here every morning, every night," Kupchak started out. "He's worked on his body. He's in great shape. He's scrimmaged probably every day for the last 60 days, so it's clear to me that he really is looking forward to this. He wants to be successful. He's willing to pay the price."
Kupchak added, "But once again, [Randle]'s played one game and he's awful young, too."
The Lakers' GM spoke for nearly 40 minutes and touched on a variety of topics and players, but the end of the press conference featured Kupchak sharing his assessment of Lakers coach Byron Scott.
"I think he did great last year," Kupchak said about Scott. "Under really tough circumstances, he kept the group together: in the locker room, on the bus, on the plane, on the court. They played hard every game."
Kupchak added, "I think [Scott] has more to work with this year, and I think he would agree with that."
