The Los Angeles Lakers finished up their official first day of practice on Tuesday with everyone participating in practice except Xavier Henry, who sat out with back spasms. According to Lakers spokesman John Black, Kobe Bryant actively participated in approximately two hours and fifteen minutes of practice, while Steve Nash participated for about an hour and a half.
After practice, Bryant said he felt great and that this was “for sure” the most running he had ever done in an NBA practice. Steve Nash and Jeremy Lin expressed similar sentiments as the theme of today’s practice was clearly defense and conditioning. Ronnie Price impressed Bryant with his conditioning, but Byron Scott refrained from singling out one individual that stood out from the rest. Instead, Scott said he was actually pleasantly pleased with the way his team responded in his conditioning drills, which Jeremy Lin described as “old school.”
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Bryant also spoke with the highest remarks for Scott, who was his rookie mentor, commenting that they are both exactly on the same page. Scott said both Bryant and Nash looked great but will practice in only one of their two scheduled practices tomorrow for precautionary reasons.
Rookie Julius Randle said Scott’s practice was much harder than any practice he had at Kentucky. Randle also smiled when talking about last night’s Lakers team dinner, where he said that everyone got to know each other a bit better.
[divide]Kobe Bryant After Practice: Talks Nick Swaggy P Young, Relationship With Byron Scott