Kobe Bryant receives treatment for bruised leg, skips another practice
Kobe Bryant received treatment Wednesday for a bruised lower leg after it crept into an eighth day of bothering him.
Then he got a haircut in the media room at the Lakers’ training facility, an event captured by two cameras buzzing around him for another documentary presumably produced by Bryant.
He was out the door after that, jumping into a black SUV with its motor running, while his teammates scrimmaged.
Bryant did not practice Wednesday and was “doubtful at best” to play in the Lakers’ exhibition finale Thursday against Golden State, according to a team spokesman.
The Lakers say they’re not worried, even though Bryant hasn’t been the same since banging into Sacramento center Kosta Koufos on a third-quarter drive in an exhibition on Oct. 13.
“He says he feels a lot better but we’ve still got to get him out and just get him on the court, running and all that good stuff,” Lakers Coach Byron Scott said Wednesday. “I just don’t want him to lose any conditioning and I know he doesn’t want to lose it. I’m not concerned. He’ll be ready on the 28th,” referring to the Lakers’ season opener.
Any injury is a big one for Bryant, trying to play an uninterrupted season at age 37 after his last three got cut short because of a torn Achilles’ tendon, fractured knee and torn rotator cuff.
As if on cue, the Lakers on Wednesday revealed this season’s media guide, its cover an ode to Bryant’s two-decade existence with them via photos aplenty. In no way are they saying it’s his last go-round, but, facts being facts, he makes $25 million and has less than a week to recover for the start of his 20th season.
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