No, it’s the right one this time. This is not to be confused with the left Achilles rupture that he suffered in 2013.
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Los Angeles Lakers’ Julius Randle, right, and Golden State Warriors’ Harrison Barnes (40) reach for a rebound during the first half of an NBA basketball game Thursday, Jan. 14, 2016, in Oakland, Calif.
Tyreke Evans missed the mark on a score-tying 3-point attempt with 6.9 seconds left. He had disclosed the Achilles soreness to the Laker medical team and coaching staff prior to the contest, but wanted to gut it out. For Bryant, nearly every game is a “last game” in some capacity.
“I’ll reconsider it (playing time) probably when he’s ready to play again”, Scott said via ESPN. But is Kobe durable enough to hold on until the end of the regular season?
“I thought Grant Hill defended him as well as you possibly could. But I understand where he’s coming from”. That puts him in the running to be one of the three starting frontcourt players on the Western Conference team.
Power forward Draymond Green, who sat out Wednesday’s loss for a rest, had team highs in rebounds (nine), assists (five) and steals (three) to go with seven points.
Los Angeles manage to make things all square in the fourth quarter and when D’Angelo Russell makes this corner three, they find themselves in the lead, 74 to 71. Kobe is playing 30 minutes per game this season, and that’s clearly too much as his body continues to break down. “The shot went in and he turned and gave me a pat on the thigh”.
UPDATE: This is going exactly how you think it’s going.
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This is a disappointing setback for Bryant as he is also dealing with a shoulder injury, the same shoulder that underwent surgery for a torn rotator cuff and ended his 2014-15 season abruptly. He should sit the guy in January. To a degree, all sports teams are, but the Lakers are truly the Globetrotters at this point. Lakers head coach Byron Scott mentioned that Bryant had strained his Achilles in a game last Friday. If he does, or simply gets shut down with an injury and doesn’t return, it means the Lakers can start playing something that looks a lot more like their featured lineup without “interruptions”. The Lakers will be better for it, but as usual, Bryant doesn’t see it that way.
