Lakers Coach Byron Scott scolds Kobe Bryant’s shooting critics

Kobe Bryant might set another record Tuesday night, but the game won’t stop and there won’t be hugs from Lakers teammates amid polite applause from Memphis Grizzlies fans.

Bryant is 13 missed shots from breaking John Havlicek’s all-time NBA mark.

Byron Scott didn’t really want to hear about it Tuesday, interrupting a reporter who asked the Lakers’ coach about the approaching record.

“I don’t care about that crap and I’m sure he doesn’t either,” Scott said after the Lakers’ shoot-around. “I don’t mean to cut you off, but to me it speaks of his aggressiveness and his longevity.”

Havlicek missed 13,417 shots in 1,270 career games with Boston. Bryant will play in his 1,252nd game tonight. He did not talk to reporters after the shoot-around, which is not unusual for him.

“I think John was a pretty damn good basketball player back in the day,” Scott said, aware that Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was also high on that list. “All those guys, I think they’re Hall of Famers too, aren’t they?”

Other players who missed a lot of career shots were Elvin Hayes (13,296), Karl Malone (12,682) and Michael Jordan (12,345). Abdul-Jabbar missed 12,470.

Scott had more to say on the subject, scolding critics of Bryant’s shot volume who popped up again last week after his 37-shot, 39-point effort in a 112-106 loss to Phoenix.

“It’s almost damned if you do, damned if you don’t. The games that he don’t take shots, people ask why didn’t he take more shots,” Scott said. “He can’t win neither way, which is unbelievable to me for a guy who gives it everything he’s got every single time he’s on the floor.

“It’s unfortunate because he is one of the greatest competitors that we’ve seen in a long time. I take all that stuff with a grain of salt and I’m sure he does too because the bottom line to him is championships.”

Bryant, 36, entered this season with career shooting accuracy of 45.4% but is only 39.4% through six games this season.

Havlicek shot 43.9% in his 16-year career with Boston.