Byron Scott hasn’t considered reducing Kobe Bryant’s minutes

“I’ve got faith in Kobe, OK?”

He has handled the entire situation in Los Angeles the wrong way and doesn’t realize how wrong he is by sticking with Kobe Bryant as his starting shooting guard/small forward and focal point of the offense. His complete ignorance when it comes to the existence of other players, even though he knows pretty well that the more he shoots the less likely the Lakers are to win a game?

Scott added that he doesn’t think Bryant’s minutes played are taking a toll on his play and he isn’t considering reducing Bryant’s playing time, which stands at just over 30 minutes per game.

“The plan is to play one of the two”, Scott said after practice Friday.

“We’re trying to get better”.

“I could have scored 80 tonight, it would not have made a damn difference. We just have bigger problems”, a relaxed Bryant said after Tuesday’s embarrassing 111-77 defeat. I could be out there averaging 35 points a game.

Scott revealed he and Kupchak have addressed “what we can do to get these young guys better and make the procedure for them a lot easier”.

With the loss, the hapless Lakers move to 2-12. “I’m not playing anywhere else, no matter what”. You would think that after such a pathetic effort the Lakers would at least be able to step up the effort on the defensive end this season, but that hasn’t been the case.

The form of Curry and his teammates has prompted many analysts to wonder if one of the oldest records in the National Basketball Association – the Lakers’ remarkable 33-game unbeaten streak set in 1971-72 – could now be in jeopardy.

“I have not considered that yet”, Scott said. “I’m not going to sit there and say, ‘This is it, Kobe, you’re done, ‘ because it’s not my decision, it’s his decision”. “I said because I was pump-faking. So obviously he’ll play (Saturday) and then we’ll see how he feels Sunday and we’ll go from there”.

Bryant is shooting an appalling 31.1 percent this season.

D’Angelo Russell, Jordan Clarkson, Julius Randle and Roy Hibbert have started each game, and Metta World Peace has filled in for all of Bryant’s absences.

“In all honesty, it was tough, the shots that I take, pullup shots and jumpers and contested jumpers – those are tough shots to hit at 27”, Bryant said.