During the fourth quarter of the Los Angeles Lakers’ first preseason game Sunday, deafening chants of "Kobe!" filled the Stan Sheriff Center multiple times.

But Kobe Bryant, the veteran NBA star and still easily the Laker’s biggest crowd draw, would stay safely on the bench.

The Utah Jazz held a steady but not insurmountable lead midway through the quarter before pulling away to beat the Lakers 90-71, but Lakers coach Byron Scott opted to keep Bryant out instead of helping to mount a comeback. He would finish the game having played only the first quarter.

The fans who helped sell out Sunday’s matchup — the first Lakers preseason game in Hawaii in eight years — shouldn’t have been surprised that they didn’t see more of Bryant.

The 20-year NBA veteran is coming off several injury-plagued years, including a rotator cuff problem last January that sidelined Bryant for the rest of the season. After that the Lakers went on to suffer their worst record since arriving in Los Angeles, at 21 wins and 61 losses.

Sunday’s game at the University of Hawaii marked Bryant’s first game back since then. Scott has made clear that he wants to gradually — and carefully — ease Bryant back into a rhythm. It remains unclear how much of an on-court contribution Bryant will make in the upcoming regular season.

"We’ll see," was all Scott would offer after the Lakers’ loss Sunday.

Scott and Bryant said that they had agreed Bryant would play only the first quarter Sunday. He finished with five points and made one basket on five attempts. He’ll likely play more minutes during Tuesday’s contest against the Jazz, Scott said. It will be the teams’ final preseason game in Hawaii.

"I thought he was pretty good. Moved well," Scott said of Bryant’s game Sunday. "Today was just the first game he’s played in a long time, just to get his feet wet and get him back out there and get some of the rust off.

"I just like the way he’s moving out there right now so I’m excited about that," Scott added. He wants Bryant to "just get used to being out there on the floor, getting used to the contact and the flow of the game and things like that."

Scott said that he intends to increase Bryant’s playing time by a couple of minutes or so each game.

Meanwhile, fans in Hawaii did get a chance to see Bryant play alongside emerging new Lakers whom the team’s front office hope will help return the franchise to winning seasons. Those players include power forward Julius Randle, who suffered a season-ending injury minutes into his first regular-season game last year, guard D’Angelo Russell, the Lakers’ heralded recent first-round draft pick, and guard Jordan Clarkson.

When asked what he thought of the new kids on the team Bryant said, "A lot of upside. The pieces complement each other extremely well. It’s a matter of getting into a rhythm in some of these games."

Asked about fans chanting Bryant’s name to return so late in the game, Scott quipped, "I thought they were crazy."

"He hadn’t played for two and a half quarters, they didn’t think I was really going to put him back in, did they?" Scott said.