Medvedenko Injures Finger

SALT LAKE CITY —  Laker forward Slava Medvedenko tore the tendon off the tip of his right pinkie finger Wednesday night and could be out as much as six weeks.

He was fitted with a splint that straightened his finger and today is scheduled for X-rays and an examination by a hand specialist.

“Whether he took a piece of bone off there, I don’t know,” trainer Gary Vitti said.

Typically, Vitti said, the finger must remain in a splint for about six weeks or it will not straighten.

The Lakers hope to have power forward Samaki Walker practice today and play Friday against Dallas. Walker, who has a strained lower back, has been on the injured list since Nov. 26.

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A couple hours after his air-balled free throws, Mark Madsen still aghast, ESPN having a grand time with it, Madsen heard Shaquille O’Neal, the noted free-throw specialist, weigh in.

“Well, Mark,” he said. “You made history.”

O’Neal laughed. Kobe Bryant, nearby, laughed. And Madsen, for the first time since consecutive free throws brushed only the bottom of the net on the way to the floor, managed to laugh too.

As earnest a personality as any in the league, Madsen nodded and smiled grimly on his way out of the locker room after Tuesday’s game. By early Wednesday night, before the Lakers played the Utah Jazz, he was back at the free-throw line, knees bent, eyes steady, elbow close, release just so.

“You know what? I think there was an element of frustration,” Madsen said. “I think there was an element of shock. But, like we say on the team, it’s not a failure, it’s not a disaster. It’s feedback. I took some feedback last night.”

Not all the feedback was appreciated.

“I was surprised at the disparaging remarks that were made by [ESPN’s] Tim Legler,” Laker Coach Phil Jackson said. “Like, ‘What’s he doing on the floor?’ Making comments like that. I don’t know how he can cast that kind of comment on another player who’s out there working at the game.”