Mitch Kupchak: Lakers prioritizing Kobe Bryant farewell over youth development

Lakers general manager Mitch Kupchak admitted that the franchise will be prioritizing Kobe Bryant’s farewell over developing their younger players this season.

Kupchak told ESPN.com’s Baxter Holmes that the 8-28 Lakers are going to keep giving Bryant minutes so he can say goodbye, even if it’s to the detriment of younger players.

“Under normal circumstances [in a season like this], at some point, you would probably concentrate on just developing all your young players,” Kupchak said Tuesday. “But we can’t do that right now.

“This is really a justified farewell to perhaps the best player in franchise history. And, God-willing, he’s going to want to play every game and he’s going to want to play a lot of minutes in every game, because that’s just the way he is. And as long as that continues, which it should, then that’s 30-35 minutes that you might give to a young player that you can’t. How do you get a feel for your team going forward when you know that your best player is not going to be there next year? So it’s really hard to go forward until he’s no longer here.”

Beyond the fact that Bryant demonstrably has not been the Lakers’ best player this season, it seems like this would be a bad thing. Kupchak doesn’t think so.

“That’s not a bad thing. I’m not saying it’s a bad thing at all. It’s something that I think is a good thing. In some regards, there’s a silver lining. Our younger players can make mistakes, and it can kind of go under the radar because Kobe garnishes so much attention. Every game, it’s about Kobe. Even when he doesn’t play, it’s about Kobe. So in a lot of regards, there’s a silver lining that our guys can develop under the radar and maybe make a mistake or make two mistakes and it not be a big deal.”

That silver lining is diminished when coach Byron Scott is constantly calling out the younger players publicly. If the Lakers would like to celebrate Bryant by letting him shoot under 35% from the field while playing 30 minutes per night while talented youngsters like DeAngelo Russell, Jordan Clarkson, and Julius Randle have to compete for minutes, well, that doesn’t seem constructive to anyone at all. It doesn’t even help Bryant, who Scott won’t bench even if Bryant’s body simply doesn’t allow him to play that many minutes anymore. It’s a classic case of putting player before team, and Bryant could and will receive the tributes and recognition he richly deserves without playing 30 to 35 minutes per night.