Kobe Bryant’s teammates appreciate his feedback on the bench

Los Angeles Lakers' Kobe Bryant gives a thumbs-up to a fan during the NCAA basketball game between Duke and Miami in Coral Gables, Fla., Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2014. (AP Photo/Alan Diaz)

Los Angeles Lakers’ Kobe Bryant gives a thumbs-up to a fan during the NCAA basketball game between Duke and Miami in Coral Gables, Fla., Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2014. (AP Photo/Alan Diaz)

His job description once entailed hitting game-winning shots, setting up his teammates and exuding the kind of mental toughness few players possess today.

But Kobe Bryant cannot do any of that these days. A surgically repaired right shoulder has kept him off the court for two months. The Lakers do not expect him to return until seven months later. Yet, in what marked his second appearance on the bench, it became clear that Bryant put his fingerprints on the Lakers’ 93-85 victory against the Detroit Pistons on Tuesday at Staples Center.

Lakers coach Byron Scott still insists Bryant will never become a coach, his unyielding expectations eventually driving him to frustration when players less talented than him fail to live up to those demands. But on this night, Bryant did.

“He takes guys to the side, talks to them, encourages them and shows them things on the floor that he sees,” Scott said. “That helps those guys as well. A lot of guys are visual, anyway. It’s just a blessing to have him on the bench talking to our young guys and giving them encouragement.”

Bryant fulfilled that job description in a variety of ways.

Bryant took out a clipboard during several timeouts and diagrammed various pick-and-roll coverages to help rookie guard Jordan Clarkson. In related news, Clarkson offset his 10 point effort on 4-of-12 shooting with a career-high eight assists.

“My head clogged up a little bit. It got me in trouble one time. I didn’t know how to run the offense one time,” Clarkson said, laughing. “But Kobe was telling me to play with my mind and understand the progression of plays when stuff is happening.”

The feedback varied on each player.

Bryant pulled shooting guard Wayne Ellington to the side every time he came to the bench. Bryant outlined to Ellington what he called “little tricks.” They entailed various nuances that ranged from how to move off screens with more efficiency and to ensure that both Clarkson and Jeremy Lin spaced the floor to give Ellington more room to find his shot.

“That’s awesome, especially for me,” said Ellington, who scored 11 points on a 5-of-12 clip. “I love taking advice from him and listening to him. I take all that and implement that into my game. I’m all ears when he’s speaking about the game.”

Meanwhile, Bryant explained to Lakers rookie center Tarik Black that he often dove too fast to the basket off of pick-and-rolls. Black genuinely wanted to exert such effort so he can make himself open for an easy bucket. But Bryant often observed that Black’s speed disrupted Clarkson’s attempt to get penetration off the screen.

“This guys has multiple rings to back it up and he has the knowledge,” said Black, who has 10 points and eight rebounds. “He’s played with great bigs so he can talk to me about some of the things they did. He’s one of the greatest guards, arguably the greatest guard to ever play the game. So he can talk to me about that and school them. It’s the best of both worlds. I’ll kick to his knowledge, listen and learn from him.”

Yet, player accounts suggested that Bryant spent most of his time teaching Clarkson. After all, the Lakers are grooming their rookie guard as he has spent the past 20 games as a starter averaging 14.2 points on 45 percent shooting and 4.3 assists.

It appeared Bryant’s influence provided a ripple effect on Clarkson’s game. With Bryant constantly diagramming to Clarkson how to run the pick-and-roll, Clarkson reported feeling more comfortable making the reads. That partly contributed to a few things. The Lakers featured fluid ball movement with seven players notching double figures, including Jordan Hill (16 points), Ed Davis (13 points), Wesley Johnson (13 points), Lin (12 points), Ellington (11 points), Black (10 points) and Clarkson (10 points). Clarkson ensured a career-high in assists and recorded only one turnover.

Meanwhile, Clarkson plans to workout on Wednesday with Lakers veteran guard Steve Nash, whom he called “Professor Steve” with joking affection.

“It’s going to help my growth process and continue to come along,” Clarkson said. “Those guys, him and Steve, are great. I’ll just continue to learn from them. It’ll help me come along faster.”

And to think, Bryant joked he would appear on the sidelines just to provide a “source of comfort” for Scott assuming the Lakers (17-46) absorb more losses. Scott chuckled at the comment before noting, “I just love him being there.” Scott then turned serious.

“Those guys are like sponges when he talks to them,” Scott said of Bryant. “They’re gathering as much information as possible to help them become better basketball players. Kobe knows the culture of this franchise as well as anybody. For him to relay messages to them about how this game should be played and what this organization is all about, there’s no better player to do it.”

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Follow L.A. Daily News Lakers beat writer Mark Medina on Twitter and on Facebook. E-mail him at mark.medina@langnews.com