Byron Scott, More Comment on Kobe Bryant's Final NBA Game
Los Angeles Lakers head coach Byron Scott has said a lot of silly things this season. But on the precipice of Kobe Bryant's last game in a Lakers uniform, Scott may have offered the most prescient quote of them all Wednesday.
"Tonight it will be all about [Bryant], and it should be," Scott said, per Mark Medina of the Los Angeles Daily News.
Bryant, 37, will retire following Wednesday night's game against the Utah Jazz. He'll leave the game as the NBA's third-leading scorer, a five-time champion and perhaps the most decorated star of his generation—in a two-man class with Tim Duncan.
“Like I told him,” Scott said, per Joey Ramirez of the Lakers' official website, “’This is the last hurrah. Let’s have some fun and go out with a bang.’”
The game itself is shaping up to be a spectacle. The Lakers donned the outside of Staples Center with a ton of Bryant-centric graphics, even putting his No. 24 and No. 8 on the floor for the game. After playing only 19 minutes against the Thunder in his final trip to Oklahoma City on Monday, Bryant should be in line for extended minutes and as many shots as he wants.
"If I say 40 and he falls short, then people will be disappointed. So I don't know," Metta World Peace said of how many shots Bryant would take, per Medina.
The Lakers have handed out approximately 400-500 press passes for this contest, per ESPN's Baxter Holmes. Veteran Lakers publicist John Black told Holmes that in his 26 years in the role, that number is "completely unprecedented" for a regular-season game.
While there has been a bit of controversy surrounding ESPN's decision to switch the game to ESPN2 in favor of the Golden State Warriors' pursuit of 73 wins against the Memphis Grizzlies, it hasn't dampened the spirit of Bryant's teammates.
“I’m just gonna say, ‘Thank you,’” said guard Jordan Clarkson, who called Bryant his basketball "godfather," per Ramirez. “I appreciate it, because he gave basketball to all of us. We watched him as kids growing up. He was our (Michael) Jordan.”
Like Jordan, Bryant's career—once filled to the brim with a series of playoff accomplishments—will end on a sputtering team heading nowhere fast. His Airness scored 15 points in his last contest, shooting 6-of-15 from the floor as the Wizards were waxed by the Allen Iverson-led Philadelphia 76ers.
It's unclear how Bryant's journey will end. But bet the mortgage on his making sure he gets to 16 points.
Follow Tyler Conway (@jtylerconway) on Twitter.
