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It took 27 games, but Los Angeles Lakers head coach Byron Scott has finally found a type of shot he doesn't want Kobe Bryant to take. After Bryant missed the Lakers' Saturday loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder with a shoulder injury he possibly sustained while dunking against the Houston Rockets the game before, Scottt that he does not want his 37-year old shooting guard throwing down on anyone else this season.
"When the adrenaline is flowing, it's real hard to tell a guy ‘Don't dunk,'" Scott told Mark Medina of the L.A. Daily News after the Lakers' Sunday Practice. "That might have been his last one. But he knows himself more than anybody. But me personally, I don't want him to dunk no more. I'll tell him to save it for Game 82. Then he can dunk again."
Scott said previously this season that Kobe had "earned" the right to shoot as much as he wanted to, but with Bryant missing the next game following his last three dunks, this type of discretion actually would makes sense.
Luckily for Scott, Bryant has only taken 13.5% of his shots inside the restricted area this season, so he is not giving himself that many opportunities to put guys on posters. In order to avoid further injuring himself, that may prove to be a wise choice by Bryant.
All stats per NBA.com