The Lakers may have a way of getting more value out of Kobe Bryant's $25 million contract: Fire Byron Scott and make him interim coach for the rest of the season.
The Black Mamba appears to have the loudest voice on the team anyway.
D'Angelo Russell Does Spot-On Impersonation Of Kobe Bryant Shooting Air Ball
Bryant instructed Scott not to reinsert him back in during the third quarter of the Lakers' Wednesday night game at Minnesota, according a tweet from the Los Angeles' Times' Mike Bresnahan.
Kobe did not play after 3:56 of third quarter because he told Byron, "Let them go." He was talking about Lakers young players.
— Mike Bresnahan (@Mike_Bresnahan) December 10, 2015
"It's a startling and mature move from Bryant, who has realized what his head coach hasn't: That the future of the Lakers depends on the development of [D'Angelo] Russell, [Julius] Randle and Jordan Clarkson," For the Win reported.
Luke Walton Should Be Lakers Focus If They Decide To Fire Byron Scott
And it's also a reminder that Bryant, and not Scott, already is running the Lakers.
Before the season, Scott asserted that he was going to force Bryant to play a limited number of minutes, no matter what. But when Los Angeles got off to a far worse start than Scott expected, he completely threw those plans out the window.
Despite Bryant shooting his worst field-goal percentage, by far, of his 20-year NBA career (30.9 percent), Scott has insisted he's not going to bench Kobe. Scott also has refused to give Russell, the No. 2 pick in the draft, extended minutes in the fourth quarter and has stated publicly that he is not going to sacrifice wins to develop players -- despite the fact that L.A. is 3-19, which is the worst start in franchise history.
And to top it off, Scott recently decided to replace Russell and Randle in the starting lineup. But if Bryant were to disagree with any of those decisions by Scott, who would ultimately get his way?
Scott's ties with the Lakers as a player -- he won three championships as part of Los Angeles' Showtime era -- made him a popular choice to clean up the mess left by Mike D'Antoni, but Scott only has created more questions about the direction of the franchise. With Bryant calling the shots, and Luke Walton waiting in the wings with the Warriors, there's no need to pay Scott the remaining $8.5 million for the two years left on his contract after this season.
And Bryant's salary might be more palatable with his dual roles for the rest of this season.
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