When Kobe Bryant sat out the Lakers' win over the Blazers in Portland on Saturday, it snapped a personal streak of 235 consecutive games played. But after missing his second straight on Monday -- another Lakers' victory, this time over the Spurs -- the question now becomes this: Just how long should Kobe rest that injured ankle?The opinions, as you might imagine, are somewhat all over the place.
There's one school of thought that goes like this: Kobe knows his body better than anyone else, and he shouldn't sit just for the sake of sitting. Besides, when the team makes its run at a title defense once the playoffs start, everyone else is going to have to play well with Kobe on the court. So, this time without him when the rest of the team might be able to gain some additional confidence isn't necessarily going to help in the long run.
There's some truth to all that. But there's also the simple fact that Kobe's body doesn't recover from injuries the way it used to. And while he can certainly go through a ton of treatment and get himself ready to play through something like a sprained ankle, there's little reason to do so when the ultimate goal is to be healthy for June, not just to win a regular season game in February.
It seems as though Bryant himself is leaning towards rest at this point. And maybe, as evidenced by his post-game comments from Monday, he is finally thinking about things as they relate to the bigger picture, instead of simply taking them on a game-to-game basis.
While Bryant obviously doesn't know how the ankle is going to feel on Sunday when he's scheduled to be in the starting lineup for the Western Conference All-Stars, whether or not he plays Wednesday against the Jazz could end up having more to do with his decision than perhaps he would like.
The league has traditionally put up a pretty big fight against players who play in the games leading up to the All-Star break, but then try to get out of their weekend commitments by claiming injury. In fact, Bryant himself dealt with this back in 2008, when he didn't miss any games, but had a finger injury that supposedly was severe enough that it was going to require surgery.
The league basically said if you play in the regular season, then you play in the All-Star game. So Bryant showed up and participated, although he did wear this ridiculously large bandage around for a couple of days in protest.
A sprained ankle is something that can linger for many months, especially if not given the proper amount of time to heal. If Bryant plays on Wednesday against the Jazz, it's virtually guaranteed that he'll play in the All-Star game on Sunday -- at least for a few minutes. But fans of the team hoping for a healthy Bryant come playoff time will be rooting for him to sit out for at least a few more games.
Update 2/11: Kobe Bryant, Allen Iverson to Miss All-Star Game
Comments (Page 1 of 2)
It seems as though bryant doesn't know
that his body is telling him to slow
down ???? at 31 and counting he is not
in a shape like, just said,Jordan at that
age;
There are times that you can see that
bryant is ready to faint in the floor
and that has been happening way back ,
in the playoffs last season and finals
also at the beggining of this season ;
My take is that his physical condition
is in decline , slowly but surely ala
pierce and garnett even sheed.
Oh come on, Frankie, he just played in 235 consecutive games. Kobe will be great until he is 37; he would p-lay but Phil and Mitch have laid down the law. And have you ever almost broken your ankle. Most guys take a month to get over it. Kobe is not a normal human like the rest of us. He is like Farve, he can take a shot, including your barage of garbage. Jordan was good but so was Baylor. Your Bulls are deadwood while my Lakers keep on rolling.
Kobe is definitley already begun the decline of his career, but thats not why he wont play in the all star game. The real reasons are 1 kobe is sick of Lebron James's gorilla nuts in his face as he gets dunked on and 2nd he didnt want everyone to see him cry after Lebron beats him for the THIRD STRAIGHT GAME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Poor Kobe, gorilla nuts to the face sounds almost as terrible as when he raped that girl.
Jeremy, It's not Lebron's gorilla nuts in Kobe's face. It's all of Kobe's World Championship Rings. Let me know when Lebron has 4 World Championship rings. You sound like Jay Mariotti after the plauyoffs started last year.Already giving Lebron a Championship, and we all know what happened after that.
Rookie u didnt hear? He doesnt have any rings anymore. He gave 3 of them back to shaq cuz he realized shaq won those rings not kobe. and the last one he lost on one of his raping rampages. Its rumored kobe and his nike puppet ran a train on a 13yr old and he had to give her the ring so the victim wouldnt tell on him.....I'm glad Lebron is as good a husband as bball player. anyone who supports kobe is supporting rapist who should be in jail, not hogging the bball
Jeremy, It's obvious your a child and are too young to know the truth about Kobe and what happened in Colorado. Go back to the library and read and when you do, let me know what the facts are. I see Robert Horry and Ron Harper have more rings then Lebron. Can't wait to hear what negativity you have on them. Sounds like sour grapes and jealousy from a Cavs fan. Hurry get tickets to see Lebron, he is leaving for either NY or NJ. And if it does, Cavs franchise. Oh yeah one more question for you. Who did The Lakers get for Don Ford ,when Ford was traded to the Cavs ? Another smart trade for the Cavs.......LOL
You are the child if you dont realize that money can get you out of many, (rape)many things. Im just glad LeBron is mature enough to stay faithful to his wife, like a REAL man does. I heard Kobe was treated for sex addiction at the same place Tiger Woods is at now. lol..... UM HELLLLOOOO!!! Ron harper grew up in ohio, went to miami university in ohio, and was drafted 1st round by the Cavs. To suggest any Cavs fan dislikes Ron Ron is very ignorant on your part! For all the LA fans trying to save face by saying Kobe has more rings so he is better LBJ, are just stupid. Your saying Robert Horry was better then Jordan?!?!? According to LA fans Horry's game must have been a level higher then MJ because he has 7 rings to MJ's 6. Right LA??? Oklahoma would no doubt trade Durant for Adam Morrison straight up because Morrison has a ring. RIGHT???? The examples are endless and prove how desperate this excuse is. Why would Cavs fans be "sour" at LA? I recall during X-mas day massacre by the Cavs in LA when Laker fans were so "SOUR" they threw foam hands on the court. And the second game where the Lakers would surely win because Mo Williams was out. Fat chance! Chalk up another win for KING JAMES. Cavs took the leagues best record from LA and LeBron took Kobe's crown as the best player. So you rookie(LA in general) are the ones who are sour. And I cant blame you because King James owns you guys now.
Jeremy, It's clear you know nothing about the Kobe so called rape case. If you go back and read, the case was dropped and no charges were filed. Do you know why ? The woman who accused him, when they were going through the evidence, they found out she had someone else's seeman on her clothes. It was probably yours or LeBron's ..lol. So until you know the facts, don't open your mouth. I didn't know when The Cavs beat a team twice in the regular season, meant you own a team. It's clear you only care about what a team does in the regular season. How many World Championships does Cleveland have ? Let me know when you come up with the answer, or win one . James Worthy was the pick The 15 Time World Champions took when they traded Don Ford to the low life Cavs.I can't wait for the playoffs to start, Boston and Orlando are better than the Cavs. One of them will knock the Cavs out of the playoffs. Hey who was the guy who got fined $25,000 for kicking a water bottle. I thought it was LeBrat. Please e-mail me when the Cavs win a NBA title.
Paul, whether Kobe raped that girl or not, is not the question. He is a CHEATER, and he is still married because he is buying his wife's love with money. At least Tiger Wood's wife is smart and it seems like she will be dumping that sorry sad excuse for a husband. Kobe will never ever be like Michael Jordan, regardless of how many years he plays basketball. Yes, Kobe is a great player, but,,,,,,,,,,,
CMA, Hi, I never said Kobe was perfect and was better then Michael Jordan. I was saying, just because the Cavs beat The Lakers twice in the regular season, don't mean a thing. Oh yeah Tiger's wife is smart. She has to stay 4 more years to be entitled to anything. She will leave after 4 years, as if she does now, she gets nothing. All I've been hearing how great LeBrom is, he hasn't won a ring. Has nothing to do with someone's personal life. Look at A-Rod, every one was ripping him, and he wins and no one says a thing. How many women has he been with and cheated with ?
Ty Gaston knows more about basketball than anyone on the planet. check out hs free daily NBA and College basketball video at tygaston.com
It seems to me that the point here
is how healthy is bryant right now,
I am getting sick of all this personal
attacks instead I like to talk about the
game itself and in this case I feel bryant
needs medical treatment one way or another
and if LA wants to keep pushing this great
player to the max , be it but he will
dismantle sooner then later and I am not
a doctor, there and stop all this BS of
name calling or who's the first one to cast
the first stone ???
Better yet, LA is showing that they do
have a very good team bryant or not
ala Carmelo with Denver, done for now.
Man, those of you who comment about the past "rape" incident are ridiculous. This article has NOTHING to do with that and never even mentioned it. Why should you??? I live in L.A. and have been a Laker fan since they arrived back in 1958 when I was 7 years old. I'm 57 now and know the Lakers through and through. Let's talk about the article. Kobe wasn't too banged up two nights before the Portland game which he sat out. Two nights earlier against Denver, he played and took 28 shots and scored over 30 points. And we lost! Two nights before that Kobe played and took only 12 shots (he scored 5 points!) and we won! He has taken the next two games off and surprise, surprise, the Lakers won both of them WITHOUT the great Kobe Bryant. We have won 3 of the past 4 games and in our only loss Kobe took almost 30 shots, scored over 30 points and we lost to Denver (at home!) by 13 points. In the 3 games we won he scored only 5 points and sat out the other two and we won all 3!!! All the writers and even Phil Jackson himself are so afraid to criticize Kobe Bryant and the biggest reason why is that Kobe will POUT like a little baby! He is sooooo immature. About two weeks ago the Lakers were down to Toronto by two points with 15 seconds remaining in the game. Everyone in the building knew Kobe would take the last shot. He dribbled the clock down to 3 seconds and with 2 men guarding him made a late pass to Ron Artest in the corner. Artest was shocked to actually receive a pass in that situation from the great Kobe and he hurriedly put up a 3 pointer from 25 feet out that hit the rim but bounced harmlessly away. We lost. The camera was on Kobe as he STORMED off the floor and into the locker room. I told my friend that it will be a cold day in hell before the great Kobe passes off again at the end of a game. And yet a sportswriter wrote the next day that Kobe in that situation has only hit 25% of his shots to win a game. But everyone remembers the ones he makes. Geez, he takes EVERY shot in that situation. Now the "TEAM" has shown the great Kobe that they are pretty damn good without him. The Lakers lost 5 straight years in Portland without winning a game. But Kobe sits that game out and guess who won? The Lakers by almost 20 points!!!! People (and Ko0be himself) forget that Kobe had no championships until united with Shaq! And then he cried like a baby to be traded until the Lakers got Pau Gasol and we won another championship. Get off your high-horse Kobe and start treating your teammates as teammates! You can't win without them. Maybe they can win without you.
zemog, I couldn't have said it better myself. I'v been a Lakers fan since 1971 and I am now 49. Too many jealous Laker Haters on here. Especially Jeremy, trying to tell me LeBron is better than Kobe, haven't seen Lebron score 81 points in a game or 61 for that matter. They look for other reasons to pick on Kobe , instead of reading what the article is about.
You dont see Lebron get 81 points because you see him get 15 assists. Lebron will never ever TAKE 46 SHOTS IN ONE GAME!!!!!!! Because he knows how to play basketball and not just SHOOT! SHOOT! SHOOT! SHOOT!
Better yet, tonight 02-10-10 LA is
demolishing Utah from the get go is
not even 1/2 time yet but if you
watching the game you can sense the
end pront for Utah , unless they wil
come back in the 3rd period, if not
it is over.
And if you are watching the game
there is a leader in LA uniform,tonight
and his name is Pau Gasol, will see the
end of this one.
To all the experts in b-ball , you
never saw this one coming but is
not over until is over, still 2 quarters
to go but if LA keeps playing this way
is not Utah, Cleveland or Orlando that can
beat this team in a 7 game series.
From wire to wire but the "experts"
keep ignoring Pau Gasol , in fact
the best big man in the world gets
no respect in the NBA he is not even
in the stats (1st in RPG's in LA ) but
who cares , the fans know, the coaches
know and better yet, his teammates know
that Pau Gasol is the real deal !