Kobe Bryant, Byron Scott reach agreement on playing time

Don't expect Kobe Bryant's return to health to signal a return to the 38.6 minutes he averaged in 2012-13 before tearing his Achilles.

In his six-game return last season, Bryant averaged just 29.5 minutes, his lowest since his 1997-98 sophomore season. While he may not be restricted quite that much as a 36-year-old in 2014-15, he's come to an agreement with head coach Byron Scott on how his minutes will be limited this year.

"His number was lower than mine," Scott said of the workload Bryant pitched. "That surprised me. It helped me as well."

While Scott wouldn't provide specifics, he did say Bryant should average between 30 and 40 minutes, which is pretty obvious. He's averaged 36.6 minutes for his career and 38.7 since the start of the 1998-99 season, so even a step back into the low-30s will seem extreme.

Bryant's focus, Scott said, is on playing in every game. That may require careful maintenance and control in back-to-back situations, and Bryant seems to understand that. It will be interesting to see if he can stick to it, though, as this is a player who's played more minutes - playoffs and regular season combined - than all but four other players in history.

Since Bryant entered the league in 1996, there have only been 12 players age 36 or older who averaged 35 minutes, and only two who averaged 37 minutes. No player Bryant's age has averaged even 33 minutes since Ray Allen with the 2011-12 Boston Celtics, but even he only appeared in 46 games that season.

In other words, don't expect Bryant to rank top-10 in minutes played for the sixth time in his career.