Kobe Bryant: 5 Reasons Why Mike Brown Must Reduce Lakers Star's Minutes

Kobe Bryant currently averages the second-most minutes in the NBA. That means he's played more minutes this season than LeBron James, Derrick Rose, Kevin Durant and Dwight Howard, despite being significantly older.

And while many Laker fans would like to believe that Kobe is indestructible, in the end there is no reason he should be playing this many minutes at this point in the season.

In years past, he hasn't had to play as many minutes because he has been able to rely on his teammates more easily and still trust that they can get the win.

This season is a different story and new coach Mike Brown has been riding his star like there's no tomorrow.

Unfortunately, if Brown continues to do so, there might not be a tomorrow.

Here are the five biggest reasons Coach Brown needs to rest the Black Mamba.

Injuries

One of the more obvious reasons that Kobe Bryant should see more rest is the fact that the man is already dealing with some ailments.

While it doesn’t seem like anything can stop Kobe, we know now that last year his knees were killing him, even though he never let on.

So what’s bothering him now?

The tape around his wrist is gone, but does that mean he’s at 100 percent? Probably not.

If he could keep his minutes down, he might be able to recover faster from these nagging injuries and get completely healthy, which is ultimately what this team needs.

Fourth Quarter Fatigue

Monday night’s game against the 76ers was unfortunately quite telling of some of the issues the Lakers are dealing with.

Despite playing a solid all-around game, the Lakers were still very much in need of some late-game heroics from their star player.

In another season, we probably would’ve seen Kobe’s signature relentlessness on the offensive end, putting serious pressure on the opponent to keep up on the other end.

Instead we saw Kobe deferring to his teammates and shying away from double teams that he would normally attack at will.

Why was Kobe acting this way? Probably because he played 44 minutes.

Needs to Let Others Develop

This is a riskier tactic than many coaches would probably be comfortable with, but unfortunately the Lakers don’t really have a choice.

This team needs to develop an offensive identity without Kobe Bryant on the court.

In reducing Bryant’s minutes, Coach Brown can force the team to figure out a way to play and be efficient without their star.

In years prior, the tandem of Lamar Odom and Pau Gasol or Andrew Bynum was often enough to keep the offense clicking while Bryant rested.

Now, the team will have to find a new player to replace Lamar in that role, but that can only happen with Bryant spending a little more time on the bench.

Late-Season Push

This season is as much an endurance test as there has ever been.

And with so many teams in the Western Conference competing to make the playoffs, there will undoubtedly be a few talented teams headed for the lottery.

If the Lakers want to ensure they will not be one of those teams, they need to rest Bryant now so that he can play big minutes in crucial games down the stretch against teams like the Clippers, Spurs, Nuggets and Thunder, who will be some of their main competition.

Playoff Run

When it comes to the playoffs, there is often no more time for rest.

For the Lakers to have any success come playoff time, they will likely have to ride Kobe Bryant hard.

In many ways, this may be his most important test as a player and he will need his rest leading up to it.

If Bryant continues to play 38-40 minutes per game, he may not have anything left in the tank when it’s time to win or go home.

Conclusion

While some think that the Lakers roster is all but set for the remainder of the season, I think there is good reason to believe that the team will make a play for a significant player, whether it’s Dwight Howard or Gilbert Arenas.

Either way, this team needs another scorer who can take some of the weight off of Kobe so that he can rest.

If management can bring in that missing piece, the team ought to be back to their winning ways, allowing for Kobe to rest up for when the games really count.

Then, he can try to bring home that sixth ring.