Lakers Head Coaches Rode Kobe Bryant into the Ground

As the 2013 season drew to a close, former Los Angeles Lakers head coach Mike D’Antoni walked a tight rope when it came to playing Kobe Bryant, 34, heavy minutes and still trying to preserve his legs for the playoffs.

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D’Antoni was candid about his minutes approach with reporters in April 2013, “His legs, we’re playing a little bit with fire and we wouldn’t like to. But we’re putting ourselves in a position where we have to.”

Up to that point, Bryant was lighting up the league in April, averaging 30.5 points, 7.5 assists, 7 rebounds and 2.2 steals in 45.2 minutes.

D’Antoni didn’t have any other options. The Lakers were ravaged with injuries to core pieces such as Steve Nash and Metta World Peace while going into the stretch run of the season. The team needed Bryant’s heroics more than ever. Their two choices were to ride the “Black Mamba” into the ground or concede the playoffs.

They chose the former.

Bryant responded with one of the best stretches of his career, highlighted by a 47-point performance against the Portland Trail Blazers on April 10, 2013. He went a perfect 18 of 18 from the charity stripe and played all 48 minutes. Bryant also accounted for 8 rebounds, 5 assists, 4 blocks and 3 steals.

His exploits pushed the team to a 28-12 record over the last 40 games and helped the Lakers finish seventh in the Western Conference, an incredible feat considering the team’s 17-25 start.

Unfortunately for Bryant and the Lakers, the chickens came home to roost, and Bryant suffered a torn left Achilles against the Golden State Warriors in the second to last game of the season.

Oct 29, 2014; Phoenix, AZ, USA; Los Angeles Lakers head coach Byron Scott (right) with guard Kobe Bryant in the first half against the Phoenix Suns during the home opener at US Airways Center. The Suns defeated the Lakers 119-99. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

Bryant’s injury represented a years worth of aggressively managing the guard’s playing time as opposed to the conservative approach. The career-threatening injury was another reminder of the complications that come with trying to convince a player of Bryant’s stature to accept a lesser role when his team’s effectiveness suffers.

Since Hall-of-Fame coach Phil Jackson’s departure in 2011, not a single coach has been able to successfully put a cap on Bryant’s minutes. It’s one of the biggest problems the franchise has had the last four years.

Bryant averaged just 33.9 minutes a contest in Jackson’s last season but hasn’t gotten much rest since then. Quite the opposite.

In 2012, Mike Brown elected not to reduce his minutes despite Bryant having played a league-high 1,968 minutes the year before, and the Lakers sitting near the top of the conference.

In his introductory press conference, current head coach Byron Scott vowed to minimize Bryant’s workload, going as far to say that one thing he would “never do is sacrifice a player’s health for a basketball game.”

Bryant played just 35 games before suffering a torn right rotator cuff on Jan. 21, 2015 against the New Orleans Pelicans. The season-ending surgery would cost him his second consecutive season.

Scott has said that he will team up with Bryant and other Laker staffers to come up with the best plan of action going forward. The group will include Bryant’s strength and conditioning coach Tim DiFrancesco and the Lakers head athletic trainer, Gary Vitti. The plan will be heavily centered around limited playing time.

However, as history suggests, the ball will be in Bryant’s court.

Next: Bryant, Durant to Join Melo in New York?

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