Kobe Bryant will miss Lakers preseason game vs. Warriors
Before we suggest the most recent Kobe
Bryant physical condition update, let’s make one thing clear: the man could
cough ever so a little while on his way down the lane for a deafening dip, and
Lakers fans would still worry.
And
who could guilt them?
But after these history few painful
seasons that were wrought with serious Bryant injuries, this latest setback is
most surely not that. Bryant has a lower left leg bruise that – while bad
enough that it kept him away of perform the past 2 days and will stay him out
of Saturday’s preseason game next to the Golden State Warriors – is being
downplayed by Lakers coach Byron Scott.
“It’s just a small pain on the
muscle,” Scott told the media on Friday, according to theLos Angeles Times.
“It’s not a bone (problem) or something like that. He came out today and got
some shooting up. But once more, for defensive reasons, there’s no need to have
him play tomorrow at what time we’ve got 2 more preseasons games after that and
6 days before the start of the normal season.”
Yet bearing in mind the Lakers’
organization-wide goal is to have Bryant on the ground as much as possible this
season, this is an inopportune way to move toward the Lakers’ start of the
regular season on Oct. 28 (a home game against the Minnesota Timberwolves).
Bryant, who suffered the injury while heavy to the rim next to the Sacramento
Kings on Tuesday, has played in all 5 of the Lakers’ preseason games (they’re
1-4, with three more preseason games in all). Bryant, who missed the 2013
playoffs because of an Achilles tendon tear and played in just 41
combined games the past 2 seasons because of knee and shoulder injuries, has
averaged 13 points (44.7% shooting overall, 37.5% from 3-point range), 1.4
rebounds, 1.4 assists and 18.1 minutes per game.
As Bryant told USA TODAY Sports throughout
training camp in Honolulu earlier this month, he is well alert that simply
staying healthy will be no little feat.
“now play the game that’s right in
front of you,” he said then. “That means a lot at this age to be able to do
that, when you can counter to situations, when you have the physical potential
to react to situations, the skills are still there to react to situations.
That’s an achievement in and of itself. And being healthy man. I’d love to play
all year.”