In what seems unfathomable now, he wasn’t even voted into the game as a starter by the fans in favor of Vince Carter and Allen Iverson. Jordan Clarkson will also take the night off after spraining his ankle in Wednesday night’s game in Minnesota, but his status is day-to-day. But as his role has fluctuated by the game in the past week, Russell stated his case on why it should stay the same.
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NOTES: San Antonio Spurs G Tony Parker did not play Friday, coach Gregg Popovich electing to give him the night off to rest.
Aldridge, 30, has been only OK with the Spurs, averaging 15.4 points and 8.8 rebounds before Friday. He takes 7.3 three-pointers per game, despite shooting just 22 percent from long range, and at this rate he would need to take another 560 three-pointers to equal the 119 three-pointers that Stephen Curry has already made this season.
“I thought he was great”, Popovich said. “It’s just about opportunity”.
After balloting for the All-Star game opened Thursday, Silver spoke with SiriusXM NBA Radio and admitted he thinks Bryant should get a sendoff at the midseason exhibition. Pretty Elite company if you ask me. It was a shockingly competitive quarter, due largely to Kobe Bryant going an nearly ideal 4-for-5 from the field and the Lakers shooting over 50% overall.
“It’s cool to come back here and let them see what I do on a daily basis”, Clarkson said. Scott also expected Clarkson to miss today’s game in Houston.
Still, Russell added another line on his resume. Russell is finally showing the qualities as a point guard that make him such a special prospect and paint the picture of his enormous potential.
Still, Russell had some limitations.
Bryant has had a tough first quarter of the season, and simply isn’t the player he once was.
“Most of the meeting, 75 percent or more will be about the basketball part and the other part will be a little bit about the business part of it, as well”, Scott said. “After that, I decided never again – if they come they come; if they don’t, I don’t care”.
“For me, it’s the biggest honor to be on the same court, to call him a teammate”, Larry Nance Jr. wrote on the Derek Jeter-run site, of which Bryant was an early financial backer.
“I don’t pitch too much”.
Those developments overshadowed Bryant, who sparked an equal mixture of both boos and chants. The Lakers will face the Spurs three more times in the regular season, including what could be Bryant’s final appearance in San Antonio on February 6.
Los Angeles Lakers forward Kobe Bryant (24) grabs a rebound during the first half of an NBA basketball game against the San Antonio Spurs, Friday, Dec. 11, 2015, in San Antonio.
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“Those years with he and Shaq were great”. “There aren’t too many people who understand how you bring it night after night after night for all those years at that level”. “He’s one of those very, very few guys who did that”.
