Kobe Bryant is expected to be on the floor for his 20th NBA season when the Los Angeles Lakers open Wednesday night against the Minnesota Timberwolves in the Staples Center.
There have been some questions about Bryant’s health leading up to the opener, but Lakers coach Byron Scott said a leg contusion that limited the veteran guard in practice wouldn’t keep him off the floor “unless something crazy happens” before tipoff.
“Yeah, I told him if he couldn’t go (Sunday), (Monday) we could start worrying,” Scott said. “He walked out (Sunday), he said it felt good. He gave me a thumbs-up. Went through the scrimmage and everything. You can see a little rust, but other than that, he was moving pretty fluid again. It was just good to see.”
Lakers teammate Metta World Peace said Bryant seemed fine.
“He played well. He was shooting in people’s faces,” World Peace said. “The white team was beating up the purple team. And then somebody decided to talk (trash) to Kobe. That was the wrong thing to do.”