Eighty-one seems a long time ago.
Kobe Bryant will suit up as the Los Angeles Lakers host the Toronto Raptors on Friday, possibly the last time he’ll ever square off against the Raptors.
The 20-year veteran has missed the bulk of the last two seasons due to three fairly serious injuries and despite planning to play most of 2015-16, Bryant has already begun taking games off due to soreness. He appeared in the team’s first six games before taking a two-game respite, returned for two games, then sat out Monday’s contest against the Phoenix Suns.
“I’m not looking forward to waking to the car. Seriously,” Bryant said Sunday, citing back and knee soreness. His inability to play a regular workload without a great deal of soreness has become such that he’s more or less confirmed the long-held assumption that he’ll retire at the end of the season, unless something changes.
The bigger question than Bryant’s status for Friday, however, remains unanswered. If this does end up being Bryant’s last season, his final visit to Toronto will come on Dec. 7. The Lakers are on the second night of a back-to-back in that game, and it stands to reason that Bryant could sit out for rest, which would be an enormous shame for those hoping to see him in person one last time. Injuries have conspired to keep Bryant from playing in Toronto since January of 2013, when nobody had any idea it may have been their last chance to see a legend live. Here’s hoping the Lakers opt to rest Bryant the night prior in Detroit instead. (I’d say “or not at all,” but playing Bryant on back-to-backs seems woefully irresponsible, as does playing him 37 minutes like he did Sunday.)
Head coach Byron Scott said Thursday that he plans to play Bryant around his usual 30 minutes against the Raptors.
The Lakers have been slightly less bad with Bryant on the floor so far this season, but Bryant himself has visibly struggled. He doesn’t have the quickness in his first step, far fewer defenders are biting on his jab step, and his turnaround jumpers lack the necessary lift to get over outstretched defenders and to the basket. There have been a good number of lowlights, and it’s honestly been difficult to watch at times. This is one of the greatest players of all time, coming back from three major injuries at age 37, trying to be the prime version of himself, and coming up demonstrably short. It doesn’t change anything Bryant’s done in his amazing, illustrious career, but it’s tough to watch when Bryant’s at his worst.
At least there’s little risk of him doing this Friday:
The 2015-16 version of Bryant’s 81-point game against the Raptors would probably be something like 30 points on 50-percent shooting. Bryant’s season high is 24 points, back in the season opener, and he’s averaging 16.9 points, 4.1 rebounds, and 3.5 assists while shooting 33.6 percent overall. He’s also hitting just 23.3 percent on his 7.5 3-point attempts per game, meaning the Raptors should be more than willing to go under screens and sag off of Bryant when faced up.
Again, none of this is to disparage Bryant. He’s one of my all-time favorite players and was at the height of his prowess right as I began watching basketball. I had been hoping against hope that Bryant would thrive in a smaller role with better-managed minutes this year, enough that he could even conceivably do one more season as a Kevin Garnett-adjace player-coach. That could still happen, I suppose, but most evidence suggests that this will be our last time watching Bryant against the Raptors. So try to enjoy it. Time might be a flat circle, but it’s also an asshole.
The Raptors opened as six-point favorites and the line has since moved to Raptors -7.5. That speaks to a market confidence in the Raptors snapping their three-game losing skid, avoiding a winless road trip, and taking advantage of the Lakers’ No. 27-ranked defense.
