The Lakers have saved their worst basketball for the end of a very bad season, and coach Byron Scott isn't pleased with how the team is sending off Kobe Bryant.
"It bothers me that his last five, six, seven, eight games are going to be with the way we're playing as a team," Scott told reporters Tuesday. "That bothers me, because you're talking about a champion. That bothers me, because he is a champion. And I hate to see him go out this way. Unfortunately this is the way it's going to be.
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"It bothers the hell out of me that somebody who's given 20 years to this league and has played through broken fingers, come back from the Achilles, come back from the shoulder surgery, and he still goes out there and gives it everything he has, that bothers me."
Clearly, Scott is bothered.
The Lakers (16-61) have lost 10 of 12, including a 22-point waxing courtesy of the Clippers on Tuesday. The grind of a miserable season and the recent drama in the locker room hasn’t been kind to the young, inexperienced roster. And that’s ruining the late stages of both Bryant’s and Metta World Peace’s careers.
“It’s a shame that Metta and Kobe, guys up in age like that, they come out and play that hard," Scott said. "And our young guys aren't realizing that's how they have to play as well to be successful in this league. I would love for our guys to play like Metta, because when he goes out there, he gives it everything he has on both ends of the floor, especially on the defensive end."
The Lakers have to limp through only five more games before they can put an incredibly forgettable season behind them.