Byron Scott: Kobe will be on minutes restriction

Kobe Bryant is still the face of the Lakers franchise, but after coming off two major injuries and missing the large majority of last season, Bryant will certainly be under a microscope this season.

New head coach Byron Scott, however, assured that his minutes would be highly monitored this season. In an 89.3 KPCC Southern California Public Radio, Scott talked about Bryant for the upcoming season.

"But I don’t want to win at the expense of having my one of my guys get hurt. And sometimes, like I said, we’re going to sit down, me and my trainer have already sat down, already started talking about the amount of minutes Kobe should probably play, going into this season.  And I have to stand fast on that. I have to make sure that when he’s up to those minutes, that’s it, no matter what the game situation is, as much as I want to win, as much as he wants to win, I’m not going to sacrifice his health to try to win games.How’s that moment going to be like, though? Because Kobe has this intimidation thing happening for him. You’ve known him since he was a kid, but he’s a guy that’s won five titles, he’s considered one of the greatest of all time…How do you ‘stand fast,’ as you say?Well, first thing, I ain’t never been intimidated by anybody, so that won’t be a problem. But he’ll have to know from me, and I’ll tell him afterwards, when I say, ‘No, you can’t go in,’ I love him as a person, I love him as a player,  and again I’m not going to sacrifice his body just to try to win a game."

For Lakers fans, this is great news. While we all love Bryant, we also don’t want to see him breaking down again. At 36 years old, Bryant is on the very back end of his career, especially physically.

Unlike Mike D’Antoni, however, Scott will be able to control Bryant. Always a dominating personality, Scott is clearly confident he can handle Bryant, given their long relationship together.

How many minutes a night do you think Bryant will play? Let us know down below!