Lakers’ Byron Scott doubts Kobe Bryant will heavily rely on 3-point shot

Maccabi Haifa’s Yiftach Ziv, left, defends Los Angeles Lakers' Kobe Bryant during the second half of an NBA preseason basketball game, Sunday, Oct. 11, 2015, in Los Angeles. The Lakers won 126-83. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

Maccabi Haifa’s Yiftach Ziv, left, defends Los Angeles Lakers’ Kobe Bryant during the second half of an NBA preseason basketball game, Sunday, Oct. 11, 2015, in Los Angeles. The Lakers won 126-83. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

The ball smoothly fell out of Kobe Bryant’s finger tips. The ball arced high into the air. Then it came crashing down and landed softly into the net.

This sequence has happened too many times to count in Bryant’s 19-year NBA career. But through four exhibition games of the 2015 preseason, this image has taken place in a different setting. Bryant has averaged 13.75 points on 48.5 percent shooting and 1.75 assists in 18.25 minutes per contest. He has produced such numbers while deferring ball handling duties to D’Angelo Russell. And Bryant has mostly produced those numbers by shooting 9-of-20 from three-point range.

Lakers coach Byron Scott gushed about Bryant, saying “he looks fantastic” and “so fluid in his movements right now” after playing only 35 games last season before tearing his rotator cuff in his right shoulder. So will this mean Bryant will mostly rely on the 3-point shot during the 2015-16 season?

“Not a ton,” Scott said. “I think he kind of goes by feel. We still want to focus on the spots we talked about early, getting him below the three point line.”

Scott later added that Bryant “has the capability to step out” to the three-point line. But he sparked plenty of reaction and criticism for his insistence last year that 3-pointers “doesn’t win championships.” After all, eight of the past nine NBA championship teams collected the Larry O’Brien hardware after leading in that statistical category. Scott, who incidentally led in 3-point shooting in the 1984-85 campaign, has stressed he is not opposed toward utilizing that skill. He just believed he did not have the personnel last year to excel in outside shooting. Scott has also argued that teams such as San Antonio and Golden State also won recent NBA titles because of superior talent, defense, role players and coaching.

As for Bryant, the Lakers’ star rested on Monday and appears likely to play all four of the Lakers’ remaining preseason games.

“It felt good,” Bryant said following Sunday’s victory over Maccabi Haifa. “I feel exactly where I want to be.”

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