Kobe Bryant Won’t Play Against Chicago Bulls On Christmas Day

Dan Duangdao
2 Min Read

Kobe Bryant closes his eyes during the National Anthem before a game vs the Heat

On Tuesday, Kobe Bryant rested as the Los Angeles Lakers stunned the Golden State Warriors at home. With a couple days off, it was expected that Kobe would play against the Chicago Bulls on Christmas Day in his first matchup against Pau Gasol, who left during free agency.

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Before taking on the Bulls on Christmas Day, head coach Byron Scott revealed that Kobe will not play tonight as he is still dealing with soreness according to Lakers.com reporter Mike Trudell:

At the age of 36 and coming off two significant season-ending injuries, Kobe has struggled to recover following games. The five-time champion is averaging 35.4 minutes per game and as a result, is on pace for his worst shooting percentage (37.2) of his career.

Kobe recently suffered an 8-for-30 shooting performance against the Sacramento Kings and like many times before this season, cited that he simply didn’t have his legs. With Kobe clearly fatigued at this point of the season, it will be a day-by-day process for him as Scott looks to limit his minutes for the rest of the season.

In 27 games, Kobe is averaging 24.6 points, 4.9 rebounds and 5.1 assists.

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Dan Duangdao was the managing editor at Lakers Nation (2013-16, 2018-20). He is currently the founder at LA Sports Media, Lake Show, Raiders Nation, Rams Nation, Kings Nation, Galaxy Nation, and MMA Rumors. Born and raised in Southern California and a lifelong Los Angeles sports and mixed martial arts fan, his first NBA game was Kobe Bryant and the Lakers against the Golden State Warriors with Michael Jordan in attendance during the 1998-99 NBA season. He was previously a contributor at HOOPSWORLD (now Basketball Insiders) and an NBA editor at ClutchPoints. Follow him on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram: @DanDuangdao.