Few players, if any, have a bigger wealth of knowledge than Kobe Bryant. New head coach Byron Scott plans on utilizing that wealth by making Bryant an unofficial assistant coach this season.
"Byron reiterates he will use Kobe as an asst. coach. Of course, Lakers don’t officially have any of those right now so he may need to.– Bill Oram"
As Oram said, the Lakers obviously can not officially name Bryant a coach in any capacity, but that won’t stop Scott from consulting Bryant. Most likely, Bryant will be able to help after games and in pre-game walk throughs. We know Bryant is a loud voice on the court already, so that is unlikely to change.
Scott using Bryant’s knowledge further shows the bond between Bryant and Scott, which originated in Scott’s playing days at the tail-end of his career and has carried on every since.
Bryant has long been considered a player with one of the highest basketball IQs in the league. Often, fans can see Bryant yelling at teammates and directing them when and/or where to be offensively. Part of what made the relationship between Bryant and Pau Gasol so great is their ability to read the game at the same rate.
Now, Bryant can try to pass on this ability to his teammates, who will be looking up to the Black Mamba in hopes of NOT replicating last year’s failures.
What do you think Lakers fans? Is making Bryant an assistant coach a good idea, or an overload on Bryant for the season?