LOS ANGELES -- Los Angeles Lakers coach Byron Scott spoke at length to reporters on Sunday about Kobe Bryant's announcement that he will retire at the end of this season. Here are some of the highlights:

• Scott had talked before that he believed Bryant could play beyond this season, and he said he still believes that.

"I thought he probably had at least had another year in him," Scott said. "I know his purpose is to finish out this season and play. I don't know what he's thinking as far as playing well or getting back somewhere near to the level that he's accustomed to getting. I think when you decide this is it, you also come to grips that you're not the same player that you used to be."

• Scott hadn't sensed this decision was coming and that Bryant didn't give him any explanation why, but the coach said Bryant seemed calm when informing him about it.

"It was so matter of fact and it was so at peace, which, after I thought about it, I felt better about that. It wasn't like he was agonizing over it or anything. He was just like, 'Yeah, I'm announcing I'm retiring.' He just kind of went on from there."

Scott added, "I think even as competitive as he is, and other players that have been in his position or somewhere close, they pretty much know when their time is there. When he said that to me, I was shocked, but I also knew he knew it was time."

• Scott said he doesn't want Bryant's role to change much in these final games: "I still want him to go out on a very positive note. And I think there's a part of me that feels that he's still going to have those glimmers of having some of the games that I know he's capable of having. I don't know how many that may be or how few it may be. But I think that's still the hope that I have."

• Mentoring the Lakers' young players is also a priority, Scott said.

"I just want him to mentor these guys a little bit more, on the court and off the court, because these are still a bunch of puppies," Scott said. "I just hope they understand who they've been around for the last couple months and try to spend as much time with him as possible these next six months, seven months or whatever the case may be and try to pick his brain as much as possible."

Scott later added, "What I want from Kobe is basically his last game be able to walk off the court and wave to all the fans and be able to go into the locker room standing up."

• On what he'll remember about Kobe, Scott said: "Everything. I can go all the way back to when he was this young guy out there just shooting in the dark at the Forum before the lights came on, before practice was 2-3 hours away, to this point where he's still at the practice facility 2-3 hours before everybody else getting shots up. I'll have great memories of spending a lot of time with him as a rookie and then getting a chance to spend his last years as a basketball player."

• Scott on it being hard to accept Bryant's acknowledging he's not the player he used to be: "Oh, absolutely. I witnessed an 18-year-old that came into this league that told me two months after we started the season, when I asked him what he wanted to be in this league, he told me the best. And I saw that come to light for a long period of time. So, yeah, it's hard to just kind of see guys, especially somebody that you care about."