Byron Scott: 'I don't necessarily care about tired legs in preseason'

A year ago, Kobe Bryant talked about the rigors of the Los Angeles Lakers' training camp in Byron Scott's first season as head coach.

"This is the most running I've ever done in an NBA practice," Bryant said. "It is, for sure. I've never run this much in an NBA practice."

Bryant didn't make it through the season, playing 35 uneven games before undergoing season-ending shoulder surgery. Neither did Steve Nash, Julius Randle, Nick Young, Xavier Henry, or Ronnie Price. The Lakers led the NBA in games missed due to injury.

Scott, perhaps feeling that increased fitness could be the answer to his team's struggles with durability, appears to be doubling down on his preseason regimen.

"You can always say it's tired legs. That to me is an excuse," Scott said Monday, according to ESPN's Baxter Holmes. He was responding to a question about his players' possible fatigue, after the Lakers shot 29 percent on their way to a 90-71 loss in their preseason opener Sunday night.

"I don't necessarily care about tired legs in preseason," Scott continued. "I think everything that we've done thus far will pay off at the end of the day. You've got some guys that might have tired legs and (are) a little worn out, but all the running as far as getting into that physical condition that we need to get into, I think in December and January, it will pay off."

If anything, Scott said, he needs to be working his players harder, as the Utah Jazz ran them off the floor.

"From what I saw, we've got to do some more running as far as getting back in transition because I thought they looked like they were in better shape than we were."

And as for any possible fatigue, the Lakers will have to learn to tough it out.

"They'll just have to kind of fight through that fatigue part of it," Scott said. "And I think mentally it gets them a little stronger anyway."