Los Angeles Lakers: Time to be Concerned About Kobe Bryant?
By Shane Young
From the way Kobe Bryant began his 19th NBA season, you never would’ve imagined a downfall was about to occur.
Yes, the numbers took a massive hit compared to his 17th season, when he was hearing MVP chatter. The efficiency has been as a low as Johnny Manziel’s days as a starting quarterback. The amount of highlight-reel slams and fast break scores have been kept to a minimum.
However, you never would’ve imagined the determined mind of Bryant sitting out multiple games.
He appeared healthier than before last year’s surprising knee fracture. He even claimed he’d been feeling the best he had in three years. Up until Dec. 23, Bryant had played every single game for his dear franchise this year, since he holds himself accountable to providing for his city. After all, $23.5 million sneaks up to his brain and quietly reminds him that he’s got a responsibility.
21 days later, Bryant has already missed six games. As a whole, the Lakers have played 11 games since Dec. 23. For more than half of the time, Bryant is not with his teammates.
This is a precedent in No. 24’s career, actually. Unlike the past, which has nearly been two decades, he’s only missed stretches of games for being injured.
Now, he’s not necessarily injured at all. For the 36-year-old, it’s all about the cautionary actions in order to prevent it.
On Sunday night, Bryant sat out his second straight game due to rest. Plain old “rest.” Emphasis on old, though. The Lakers were hosting the Portland Trail Blazers, and head coach Byron Scott told Kobe that he didn’t even have to show up. For the last three weeks, the goal for Scott has been to rest Bryant until his body feels fit to return at full strength. On Christmas Day, he told reporters that his legs were sore, his Achilles were giving him trouble, and that he had to be smart about his approach to the season.
Fearsome for the fans in Hollywood, it’s now becoming a commonality to play without Bryant. Last year, it was nothing short of weird to see a team gel and have that much fun together without a superstar. Yet, Mike D’Antoni’s Lakers began to click for a few spurts when Bryant was nursing his two major injuries.
As the coach should, Scott took responsibility for Bryant feeling sore and overworked thus far. The coach is the one that handles the players’ minutes, no matter how “in shape” and “ready” a player is heading into the year. Everyone around Bryant was fully aware of his intense workout regimen — given that he’s been one of the hardest work-horses in NBA offseasons — and you could clearly tell a difference in his lateral movement from the six measly games he played last year.
For the first 27 games of this regular season, Scott had Bryant playing at a farcical 35.5 minutes per night. That’s about five too many, considering Bryant actually came into the season ready and willing to take a minutes cut for health purposes.
Wait. For the first time in his career, the unbreakable Kobe Bryant pitched a reduction in minutes? It’s a complete shame that Scott didn’t take his words seriously. Whenever a guy that’s been tough as bricks for 18 years tells you he’s ready to step back … you listen. Whenever a guy that’s even risked his body limping around at times informs you of a change his body needs, do you ignore it?
“He had a number [of minutes] and my number was higher,” Scott said. “His number was right when I look back at it. I cut those numbers down, and ever since then, his efficiency has been so much better as far as the way he’s been playing and how he’s able to play. At the beginning, us getting on the same page and me getting to know him and what he could take and what he could stand from a minutes standpoint on a night to night basis was something I had to get used to.”
If this was a rookie head coach, Bryant would’ve got his minutes reduction. Rookie coaches tend to let their superstars control a bit more than they should (David Blatt) and they won’t act too strict right out of the gates. It’s the process of trying to become liked and preventing termination.
Scott, on the other hand, has been around this neck of the woods for majority of the 2000’s. Coaching the Nets for four years, the Hornets for five, and then the Cavaliers for three, Scott knew how to handle veterans. Perhaps he just didn’t know how to handle one of this magnitude, one with this amount of league-wide dominion.
On a realistic note, Bryant should’ve been around the 29 or 30 minute mark for the first 30 games of the season. Now, there’s some that may utter “it’s just five extra minutes, it doesn’t matter.” However, they should be reminded that it’s an average, and that average includes games from the upper extremes (40-43 minutes) and lower extremes (15-20 minutes). Therefore, the average should’ve been much lower for a 36-year-old motor.
It’s the rule of thumb when driving a used car, isn’t it?
If your vehicle has over 200,000 miles racked up, you have to do one of two things: Purchase a new car, or turn into a precautionary mind and start taking it easy on the motor.
Well, can they purchase another Kobe Bryant?
Nope, they already made the mistake of paying this one incredibly too much money for his efforts. Re-signing him was a great deed and it should’ve been done, but not for the given price tag.
As a result, the only thing you can do is lower his workload, monitor his minutes, and limit the amount of mileage he accumulates over his last two years.
Throughout his 1,497 career games (reg. season & playoffs), Bryant has logged an amount of minutes that will make you take a sobriety test.
55,322 minutes. 8,641 of them are from the playoffs alone, and that total number doesn’t even include Kobe’s time with the 2008 and 2012 Olympic Gold Medal runs. Compared to other players in NBA history, it’s mind-boggling:
- Kareem Abdul-Jabbar — 66,297 total minutes
- Karl Malone — 62,759 total minutes
- Jason Kidd — 56,199 total minutes
- Wilt Chamberlain — 55,418 total minutes
- Kevin Garnett — 54,853 total minutes
- Tim Duncan — 53,536 total minutes
Bryant fits in with the all-time greats in terms of having a lengthy, successful career. In fact, he joins Duncan and Abdul-Jabbar as the only three players high on the all-time minutes list with 5+ championships. He squeezed out a lot during those 55,322 minutes.
Is it time for concern?
If you’re an optimist that loves to believe he’ll be able to defy his age, stiff-arm Father Time, and play 30+ minutes a night again … give up. He’s far past those days.
But, if you’re a believer in the more efficient Kobe Bryant, and the one that can be happier on the court with less minutes and more energy, there’s reason for faith.
Scott realizes it now, or so he says.
While it seems like a wash that Los Angeles will be able to lure top-caliber free agents to their losing culture of the last two years, Mitch Kupchak is never someone to bet against. He’s the ultimate godfather at times.
If stars are willing to leave their winning destinations and join Bryant, he can’t be a derailed train. He has to be healthy, and durable.
The only way to ensure that is by starting the discipline, and enforcing it strongly. We’ll see if Scott sticks to his promises this time around.