Kobe Bryant sitting out Lakers game at Miami

Bryant’s response was about next season – there might not be one. Bryant’s hope to play in all 82 games will be unfulfilled.

Los Angeles Lakers star Kobe Bryant sat out Tuesday’s game against the Miami Heat to rest, the team said. “I hurt the back a little bit during training camp….”

“It’s wear and tear”, Bryant said. Bryant entered the afternoon with the highest scoring average at MSG of any active player at 30.7 points per game in 15 games. “Today, I couldn’t shake it free”. Bryant added he will devote “90 percent” of his treatment toward his back. Asked what would influence his decision Bryant answered, “Just desire”. With that being said, Inside the National Basketball Association is an unpredictable show and you can nearly guarantee a few shots will be taken as both these men have no filter. But this Tweeter got him anyway.

Former coach and now Knicks president Phil Jackson predicted that Kobe will still play next year, but not with the Los Angeles franchise anymore. “It doesn’t matter if I am starting or coming off the bench”. It was the second win in a row for the Knicks (4-4) and the third straight loss for the Raptors (5-3).

Paul George scored 32 points for IN, which went scoreless for almost four minutes after taking a 90-88 lead. Scott then called timeout with L.A. trailing 97-79 with 3:49 remaining in the game.

“His answer was ‘This might be my a year ago, ‘” Scott said. But the reality of it all is that the said rookies may not be enough to help the teams take off that rebuilding mode tag so now, it looks like it will be a race on which team can get ahead of the other.

All of that overshadowed Nick Young’s best game under Scott, a team-leading 17 points on 6-of-13 shooting and 5-of-9 accuracy from 3-point range after experiencing a season full of frustration with shooting inaccuracy and clashes with his head coach. They have Roy Hibbert, Lou Williams, and Brandon Bass, not to mention giving Metta World Peace another try.

But nothing will overshadow Bryant, who acknowledged feeling “extremely” frustrated for his absence.

“We settled on jump shots”, Scott said, “and I think the fact that they had a big guy down there in Whiteside, who can block shots, probably deterred us from going to the basket sometimes”. “For the fans that watched tonight, it was very tough not to be out there”. “But what I’ll always see is the guy who has dominated this game at his position for a long time, who performed at a high level for 20 years”. “If I can walk and perform, I deserve to be out there playing”.