The Los Angeles Lakers are starting to tone down their practices going into Week 3 of training camp. Lakers head coach Byron Scott says that after conditioning his team pretty hard for two weeks, practices will now be a bit shorter and lighter, though still intense.
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Steve Nash sat out of practice for the second consecutive day on Tuesday after what he told the OC Register on Monday was a “little sciatica problem.” After taking Monday to rest his legs, Kobe Bryant was back in full form for Tuesday’s practice, saying he felt great after a day of rest:
Did great, chance to get off the legs a little bit, rest, ice, stretch, all the things old guys gotta do to try to get ready!”
Xavier Henry who’s been dealing with back spasms was back on the practice floor today, though Byron Scott said he looked rusty and Henry agreed. Henry doesn’t know yet when he’ll be available to return to game action. Ryan Kelly (hamstring strain) also participated in the early part of practice today during less intensive activities like the three-man weave.
Jeremy Lin sat out of practice for another consecutive day with a sprained ankle.
With Nash dealing with issues that the Lakers are describing as similar to last year, the question remains about how to use Nash moving forward. Byron Scott admitted it’s definitely a concern:
It is something that I am definitely thinking about,” Scott said after practice when asked about whether Nash could find himself coming off the bench this season. “Is it in our best interest to start Jeremy or Ronnie or do we just kind of wait day by day or game by game? We don’t know yet.”
Kobe Bryant also gives his opinion on the NBA experimenting with shortening an NBA game to 44 minutes. Plus, Bryant had some very interesting things to say about the business of the NBA and why players need to be aware of their market value.
The Lakers resume practice on Wednesday before taking on the Utah Jazz at Honda Center Thursday night.
[divide]Kobe Bryant Urges Athletes To Know Their Market Value