If Lakers coach Byron Scott won’t do it then maybe someone like Kobe Bryant can talk some sense into him.
Criticized repeatedly for holding back the young players like D’Angelo Russell from playing during the crunch, Bryant came forward and told Scott to let the boys play so that they can see what they can do in the Lakers’ overtime loss to the Timberwolves (123-122) on Wednesday.
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“He said, ‘Coach, let 'em go. Let's see what they do,'” Scott said via the The LA Times.
Despite losing, it seemed like the proper thing to do if the Lakers are to determine the capacity of Russell and other young guns like Julius Randle and Jordan Clarkson.
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Russell and Randle apparently responded to the opportunity, finishing with 23 and 20 points, respectively. But it was more about building the confidence in the two young stalwarts, who recently lost their starting jobs just a few games back.
And while the rookie Russell showed positive signs for the Lakers, something had to give. That included a botched opportunity for the go-ahead basket with about 3.9 seconds left, as reported by Fox Sports.
Regardless, the missed shot goes with the development progress. Even Kobe admits that he missed several of those crucial shots during his day.
“I've made plenty of them, missed plenty of them, too,” Bryant said he told Russell. “It's your first [last-second] shot but it won't be your last. On you go.”
From there, Scott says that fans should be ready to see less of Kobe come the second half of the season.
“They're probably going to fall on their face a bunch more times, but at the end of the day, they'll at least be put in that position where they can grow.”
Somehow those statements strike a familiar tune, somewhere in the preseason. Hence, it remains to be seen if Scott will actually execute his talk when that time comes.
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