Kobe Bryant will likely get some time off in their next several games to keep him fresh for the remainder of the season, Los Angeles Lakers coach Byron Scott said.
Bryant, who is playing in his 19th season in the league, is averaging 26.7 points to go along with 5.1 rebounds and 4.2 assists per game this season, but is playing 35.7 minutes a game.
In their loss to the Denver Nuggets on Sunday, Bryant looked winded in the fourth period and overtime where he shot just 4-for-14 from the field.
Scott pointed out that fatigue is normal, considering the fact that Bryant is coming off a long layoff after sustaining a knee injury last season, but he admitted that it will come to a point where the 36-year-old superstar will be rested.
"That's expected when you haven't played that long, you miss that length of time, being a year off," Scott told ESPN Los Angeles. "And then you come back basically with a bang because that adrenaline is flowing."
"Then sooner or later, during the season, it's going to catch up to you. We've just got to rejuvenate and get back there. He will. I think that this week at home, getting a couple days off here and there will definitely help him," Scott continued.
However, it is still unclear at this point whether the plan will push through after the Lakers also announced that Xavier Henry will miss the remainder of the season after sustaining a ruptured left Achilles. Scott told LA Times that Henry sustained the injury in practice during a three-on-three drill.
"He just made a move, like most guys do when they mess up their Achilles. Nobody hit him or anything like that," Henry said. "He went down and pretty much said to us that he heard a pop. We helped him in the locker room. Kobe and [Carlos] Boozer are in there with him, but obviously, he was devastated."
Henry became the third Lakers player to be ruled out for the rest of the season after Steve Nash sustained a back injury and rookie Julius Randle suffered a season-ending leg injury.
The Lakers were granted $1.5 million disabled player exception for Randle and $4.85 million for Nash, which they could use to sign another player. The Lakers are also expected to apply for a disabled player exception for Henry.
