Kobe Bryant still questionable for Lakers game at Dallas with sore back

Kobe Bryant, who didn’t attend the Lakers’ shoot-around Friday morning because he wasn’t feeling well, remains questionable for the game against Dallas later tonight because of a sore back.

But Lakers Coach Byron Scott said that Bryant, who has missed the last two games with the back problem, will start if the 37-year-old guard is feeling better.

“If he says he’s ready to go, absolutely he’ll play,” Scott said.

Scott said Bryant got sick Thursday night when the team arrived in Dallas from Orlando, Fla.

“I don’t know if it was something that he ate, but his stomach wasn’t acting right,” Scott said. “So we’ll see how he feels today.”

The Lakers will be playing the final game of their five-game trip. They are 1-3 on the trip so far.

Scott also said that Roy Hibbert has been talking a lot to the young players, particularly Julius Randle, D’Angelo Russell and Jordan Clarkson.

“All three of our [young] guys are at different stages on both ends of the floor,” Scott said. “Our job as coaches is to continue to work with them.”

Having an eight-year veteran like Hibbert has helped Scott and his staff when it comes time to explain things to Randle, Russell and Clarkson.

“He’s real good with the young fellas, as far as getting on them at times when he has to and not overdoing it,” Scott said about Hibbert. “But then he has a good mixture of being able to console them when he has to as well.”

Follow Broderick Turner on Twitter @BA_Turner