Lakers guard Kobe Bryant will sit out of Friday’s game vs Phoenix.
(Photo by Keith Birmingham/ Pasadena Star-News)

So much for Kobe Bryant’s optimism on Friday morning.

After the Lakers’ star reported his intentions to play in Friday’s game against the Phoenix Suns at Staples Center, Bryant will instead sit out because of continuous soreness in his right shoulder.

“I don’t know what changed,” Lakers coach Byron Scott said. “It was good this morning. This afternoon it didn’t feel good.”

This will mark the sixth game Bryant has missed in the previous 10 contests, all of which have been at home. Bryant’s participation has also followed a continual pattern in which he will appear in road games and home games against marquee players or opponents.

Yet, Scott still offered some sympathy, arguing, “When he tells me he can’t go, I know he’s hurting.”

“He has to think about himself more than anything and his future after basketball,” Scott said. “He doesn’t want to do damage to his shoulder so much that in 5-10 years from now he has to go get surgery again.”

Scott quickly revealed that Lakers forward Metta World Peace will start in Bryant’s place for the second consecutive game. But Scott sounded less sure if Bryant will sit on the bench, let alone attend the game.

“If I was thinking about it at that particular time, I probably would have said, ‘KB come to the game and support the guys. But I wasn’t thinking about that. I was thinking more about him. I didn’t get to that discussion.'”

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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