Kobe Bryant revealed that he felt very good after their first practice, while coach Byron Scott was also impressed with what he saw from the superstar, Los Angeles Lakers news and rumors indicated.
In an interview after the Lakers' first practice on Tuesday, Bryant, who is coming off an Achilles tendon and knee injury, said that he is in good shape after practicing with the team for more than two hours.
"I felt normal. I felt like myself," said Bryant, who will be entering his 19th season in the league. "That's a good thing."
Bryant was also impressed with how their first practice turned out, saying that the drills will put them in a very good position to become competitive in the upcoming season because the focus will be more on defense and conditioning.
"This is the most running I've ever done in an NBA practice," Bryant said in a Lakers news and rumors update. "It is, for sure. I've never run this much in an NBA practice. Everybody wants to play defense but when you're not in the condition to play defense you go back to your natural instinct which is to play offense first."
Lakers coach Scott reacted on Bryant's comment, reiterating that things won't change and could even get harder as the 2014-15 NBA season approaches.
Scott, who was hired to replace Mike D'Antoni after the Lakers had one of the worst seasons in franchise history, believes that Bryant will continue to be one of the best players in the league despite his age, saying that the 36-year-old superstar will still score a lot next season.
"He's a guy who's still going to average probably 23-24 points per game," Scott said of Bryant via Pro Basketball Talk.
Scott also added in a Lakers news and rumors update that Bryant looked good on Tuesday and he was actually the one who convinced Bryant to take it easy, knowing that the 18-year veteran is coming off a major injury.
"I basically had to ask Kobe to shut it down," Scott said. "We got another one tomorrow. He went through one more drill and then shut it down. He felt he felt great and could have done more but right now it's a progression of just going a little bit today."
