The elephant in the Lakers' room that was Bryant's status for the remainder of the season will finally be addressed this week, sources tell Bleacher Report's Kevin Ding. He'll sit.
The reason why Los Angeles reportedly will shut down its star guard is obvious: The season is lost and Bryant hasn't fully recovered from the knee injury he suffered just six games after his return from his highly-anticipated torn Achilles' recovery. There's no point.
The only thing that isn't obvious: What took so long?
Bryant's initial recovery time was six weeks — way off. After multiple delays, re-evaluations and "Kobe uncertain of return" stories, it became obvious the Black Mamba wouldn't be a part of the Lakers' dismal season.
But he was for six games, in which he averaged 13.8 points, 6.3 assists, 4.3 rebounds, and will certainly be the team's focal point once again next season. Despite Bryant's two-year, $48 million contract extension, the Lakers will have plenty of money to flash in front of Batman's potential Robins during free agency.
Many will question how effective the 35-year-old can still be after 17 NBA seasons on legs that, based on the last calendar year, aren't holding up.
That's a fair question, especially for a player who's supposed to be the centerpiece of what needs to be an expedited rebuilding process. But Bryant's well-known, competitive spirit is his rebuttal.
Kobe's game has evolved. He's more likely to hurt you with his jump shot these days, not attacking the rim like the Kobe-of-old. As former Lakers coach Phil Jackson recently pointed out on SiriusXM NBA Radio, that evolution is why he'll still score.
"I expect he'll be back and will be a vital player," Jackson said. "He is not going to block a shot, take the ball and go coast to coast from baseline to baseline now or rebound and do that quite as much. And so it is going to be a different guy, but he's still going to have scoring capabilities."
Mamba likely will do his part. Surrounding the star guard with a supporting cast that meshes with his game will be up to the Lakers' front office.
Bryant has said he wants to get back on the court this year, a wish consistent with the 16-time All-Star's resilient mentality.
"I'm just going about it every single day just trying to get better," Bryant said last month. "That's my job. My job is to get my butt back out there on the court when I'm healthy enough to play and that hasn't changed."
To whoever within the Lakers organization must inform this man that he'll remain on the bench for the rest of the season: good luck.
BROWN'S ADVICE
Phil Jackson has yet to speak one word about taking a front office job with the New York Knicks. Still, that hasn't stopped the hypothetical train from churning out rumors.
Most of those have come and gone, like the idea of Steve Kerr taking over as coach if Jackson were to accept a decision-making position within the Knicks franchise.
This continued onward when SMU coach Larry Brown, a former Knicks coach, was asked what course of action he would suggest for Jackson. While his response, which was at least based on actual experience, sounded sincere, this situation is still hypothetical.
“I would tell him take the job and keep Mike Woodson as your coach," Brown told Mad Dog Sports Radio. "There’s a great coach, the players love him.”
Brown, who led the Knicks to a 23-59 record in one season, blamed himself, not James Dolan, for that disaster of a season.
“Mr. Dolan wanted to win," Brown said. "He wanted to give me the resources to help me win. I just went around it, chain of command and that didn’t get it done. He didn’t know what was on my mind, what I was thinking. And I truly believe if I had handled the relationship a little better like Donnie probably did then we might have got it done.”
KNICKS PROTEST
Disenfranchised New York Knicks fans have set an anti-ownership protest before the team's game against the Indiana Pacers on March 19. Knicks ownership has planned a VIP event before the same game. This is not a coincidence.
As the Star Ledger noted, fans who are fed up with the Knicks' inconsistent front office decision-making will be out in mass to speak their peace, and their speech will likely be profane. The group, known as KF4L — which stands for "Knicks Fans For Life" — will be short on ears to listen to their angst if the Knicks have it their way.
The team has set up a 6 p.m. happy hour for season-ticket holders that will keep those who sit in the seats and put money into Madison Square Garden away from the angered fray, according to an e-mail obtained by Deadspin.
Because the Knicks are almost destined to miss the playoffs, the members of KF4L are unlikely to get much return on their protest. Not much can be done this season. The Knicks tried to make moves to no avail. Other front offices aren't checking for the contracts of Raymond Felton, Andrea Bargnani or Amare Stoudemire, and for good reason. Just look at the product on the floor at the Garden.
LET THEM FIGHT
ESPN's TrueHoop caught up with the man known as the "Polish Hammer" — Wizards center Marcin Gortat — to ask him his thoughts on some potential rule changes.
Gortat advocated for one interesting alteration — let the players fight.
"I would say I would loosen up a little bit the rules about the fighting fines. That’s what I would loosen up," he said.
He went on to talk about the excitement that hockey fights bring to the fans.
"Because today you go to an ice hockey game, and the one thing they’re waiting for is a fight, you know what I’m saying?"
In Gortat's world, players that are beefing with each other would, like hockey players, have an opportunity to fight during the game.
"Quick, 15-20 seconds, throw few punches, then referees jump in and break this thing up. I think the game ... these two guys, they resolved their problem. They’re both suspended and they’re leaving. But end of the day, they fix the problem between each other, fans are super excited, and I think that would be a pretty cool idea [chuckles]."
He proposed that once the referees intervened, the fighting would cease and the involved players would head to a basketball version of the penalty box, or to the locker room.
Not a terrible idea, but one must think those poor referees wouldn't feel too safe entering player scrums without protective gear.
PRESIDENTIAL HOOPS
It's the absolute, unquestioned video of the day on the web: President Barack Obama sits down with Zach Galifianakis on "Between Two Ferns." Of sports relevance, Galifianakis asks a pressing question of the President at the 2:20 mark.
Contributors: Tadd Haislop, DeAntae Prince, Kami Mattioli, Chris Littmann
