Lakers point guard Steve Nash hurts his back again

Steve Nash injured his back while carrying travel bags Wednesday, Lakers Coach Byron Scott said, the latest setback in Nash’s attempt to be a presence for the Lakers in what is shaping up as his final NBA season.

Nash felt a twinge in his back at his Manhattan Beach home and missed practice Wednesday, showing up after it began and then receiving treatment on his back. It was unclear when he would play again.

“I have no idea right now,” Scott said of the oft-injured point guard.

With Nash, Jeremy Lin and Jordan Clarkson all probably not playing Thursday because of injuries, veteran Ronnie Price looks like the Lakers’ starting point guard in their exhibition against Utah.

Meanwhile, there were questions about Kobe Bryant’s durability last season, so Scott has moved to limit his playing time when the real games begin Oct. 28. He wouldn’t reveal the specific number of minutes per game he recently agreed upon with Bryant, saying only it was between 30 and 40.

“His [suggested] number was lower than mine, which surprised me,” Scott said. “But it also helped me as well.”

Bryant averaged 38.6 minutes in 2012-13, his last relatively full season of action. It seemed like a lot at the time. Former Lakers coach Mike D’Antoni even said, “I told him they’ll put a statue of him at Staples, but it might be literally me riding him to death.”

Turn to now, with Bryant coming off a six-game season, and somewhere in the low to mid-30 minutes a game sounds appropriate for a player who turned 36 two months ago.

Scott hasn’t spoken yet with Bryant about possibly sitting out certain games, particularly some in back-to-back situations. That conversation might not be so agreeable.

“He wants to play every preseason game, he wants to play every regular-season game,” Scott said. “All we did was really talk about minute-wise, what he thought he’d be good at and what I kind of felt. We came to an agreement on that. We were happy about that.”

There still isn’t clarity on what to do with Nash, 40, though Scott has already indicated Lin might become the permanent starter at the point.

The Lakers would have waived Nash had they been able to sign Carmelo Anthony, paying Nash the remaining $9.7 million on his contract over a three-year span. But they decided to keep Nash, get what they could out of him, and pay him the remaining money on his contract in one season.

“There’s some concern,” Scott said. “From my standpoint, I’ve got to kind of figure out if he’s going to be able to play every day or not. Or if he’s going to be able to play every other game. Or which games can he play? Obviously in the next couple of weeks, we’ve got some time to come to a conclusion on how we’re going to handle this whole situation.”

Nash looked fine in the Lakers’ exhibition opener, totaling 11 points and five assists in 20 minutes. But he sat out the next game and took himself out at halftime of the Lakers’ third exhibition.

Etc.

Forward Ryan Kelly (strained hamstring) probably will make his exhibition debut Sunday against Utah. Xavier Henry (back spasms) will not play Thursday against the Jazz, Scott said.

Twitter: @Mike_Bresnahan