One of the main stories heading into this season for the Los Angeles Lakers has been the return of Kobe Bryant and in particular, how many minutes per game he will be playing. Bryant has logged more than 50,000 career minutes and managing his time on the floor is necessary at this stage of his career.
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Scott wouldn’t delve into specifics on Kobe’s minutes earlier in the off-season, and still remains mute on an exact number, but he did reveal a range of where that number lies, according to Lakers Nation reporter Serena Winters:
Byron Scott said he's discussed minute restrictions w/ Kobe. They've come to a number "between 30 & 40 minutes." Scott wouldn't say exact #
— Serena Winters (@SerenaWinters) October 15, 2014
Though Scott revealed more than he has on this subject in past media sessions, this is still an extremely wide range when it comes to minutes. Scott also said something surprised him during his conversation with Bryant according to Winters:
Interesting thing about Byron/Kobe minutes convo: Scott said the amount of minutes Kobe proposed was actually less than what Byron proposed
— Serena Winters (@SerenaWinters) October 15, 2014
Bryant has averaged 30 minutes or more in 14 of his 18 NBA seasons with the lowest of those being just under 34 minutes which came in the 2010-2011 season. The next two seasons he would average over 38 minutes per night.
Neither Scott or Bryant himself want him to play nearly 40 minutes per game and with Bryant suggesting even fewer minutes, it is likely that Kobe will be much closer to the 30-minute mark. With Bryant spending less time on the court, it will be up to the rest of the team to keep the Lakers afloat while Bryant rests.
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