HONOLULU — For Kobe Bryant, the early-morning hours of his first day of the 2015-16 campaign reflected the industrious reputation that he earned in each of his previous 19 NBA seasons.
Bryant, who had been awake since 6 a.m. HST, showed up to the Lakers’ first training camp session an hour earlier than the majority of his teammates. As the rest of the purple and gold filed into the University of Hawaii at Manoa’s Stan Sheriff Center, Bryant was already working on his shot, sweeping into the past the right rotator-cuff tear that cost him the final three months of last season.
“That’s Kobe,” second-overall draft pick D’Angelo Russell said after his first NBA practice. “That’s where the tough fourth-quarter, overtime buckets that he makes come from. He’s the first one here. He might be fooling us all with the (ice-pack) sling on his shoulder. As soon as we all leave he might get some more (baskets).”
Bryant — who emphasized the importance of getting in “competition reps” against teammates and working on defensive moment — led the group of 19 Lakers in some of the morning’s conditioning drills, according to head coach Byron Scott.
The 17-time all-star has played just 47 of L.A.’s last 170 games due to three consecutive season-ending injuries. However, Bryant says that this recovery isn’t as daunting as his paths back from an torn Achilles tendon (2013) and knee injury (2014).
“It’s a little easier to get through, honestly,” the 37-year-old said. “The truth is, even with a completely torn shoulder, I was shooting and playing and felt strong. Now that it’s fixed up, it should be fine. Legs are different. Everything you do on the court centers around the legs. You can’t hide that. It’s a lot easier than dealing with a lower-leg injury.”
Bryant anticipates that he won’t play “a whole heck of a lot” during the Lakers’ eight game preseason. Still, Scott noted the five-time NBA champion’s physical preparation and tendency to take Russell aside for advice during drills.
Bryant did sit out for a few rounds of conditioning, but he remained largely active in Scott’s training camp, which is notorious for pushing NBA players to their physical limits.
“You do enough running to get a sweat in and get a nice push, get your legs back in a little bit,” Bryant said. “Truthfully, my conditioning’s at a high level already. So there’s no reason to push that. You don’t want to beat up your joints and beat up your ligaments any more than you have to. It’s more so getting some game activation, some contact drills, timing (and) things like that.”
Along with Bryant, First Team All-Rookie honoree Jordan Clarkson stood out to Scott in terms of physical condition. The head coach also left impressed with the physique of the team as a whole. One of the conditioning drills was expected to go for 15 minutes, but Scott added five more without issue.
Still, for Scott — who plans on ramping up the physical intensity as training camp rolls on — the truly shining sign was the emptiness of the strategically placed trash cans at the end of practice.
“There was not one person that I said didn’t come ready for camp, which is a good thing,” Scott said. “Usually I have a couple guys that are throwing up and falling out.”