Kobe Bryant will not play Monday in Portland, as part of Coach Byron Scott’s new plan to hold the 36-year-old superstar out of one game of back-to-back sets. On Sunday against the Pacers, Bryant notched 20 points, but did not travel with the team to the Northwest.
“You guys might think he probably argued about it and all that,” Scott told reporters before Sunday’s game, “but he said, ‘Sounds good to me.’ He stuck with his plan of, ‘Whatever you want to do.’”
Bryant averaged 35.4 minutes per game over the first 27 games of the season before soreness and fatigue began to noticeably hinder his performance.