Kobe Bryant does not want his injury to hinder the team’s path to success
Los Angeles Lakers’ shooting guard and top scorer, Kobe Bryant, has been severely injured and this time on the very verge of his team’s crucial confrontation with their playoff’s opponent, New Orleans Hornets.
The 32-year-old guard, also known as the “Black Mamba” for his tenacious performance and keeping the rival’s guard off, was left with a swollen foot in Sunday’s loss to the Hornets. Although the player only missed 16 seconds of play, the sight of Kobe struggling
with his injury afterwards was shocking.
Meticulous about his health and always keeping his health problems to himself, Bryant had to leave the arena on crutches. Despite this disposition, Bryant aims to play Game 5 against the New Orleans, scheduled to take place on April 26th, 2011,
at the Staples Center, Los Angeles.
The NBA All-Star was injured during Game 4 of the best-of-seven series that resulted in a loss against the Hornets. The series was equalized at 2-2 and the fifth game is going to be very crucial and Bryant’s injury has added to the sudden slump the Lakers
are going through.
The inspiring player got injured late in the game after he bumped into opposition’s reserve guard, Willie Green. Lakers, who were already trailing by three points, 82-85, at the time, could not get hold of the game after that, eventually losing the game
to the Hornets.
Lakers’ spokesman later told news reporters that Bryant will be checked on the flight back home and the decision on whether to have an MRI or not will be made after that. The player who did not miss a single game this season was worried that his foot might
swell further during the flight and said, “I should play. It’s going to take a lot to stop me from playing”.
This is true since nothing has hampered the player’s performance this season and the mercurial guard appeared in all 82 games of the regular season.
Bryant could only score 17 points in 36 minutes of action and remained scoreless during the opening half of the game. The player finished on a mere 5-of-18 shooting from the field along with eight dimes and six boards in the loss. The phenomenal player has
steel determination and a swollen foot cannot keep him off the floor. He was quoted as saying, “I’ve played through so many of them, it kind of becomes old hat for me”.
Bryant refused to get an MRI done on his foot and decided to play game 5 against New Orleans Hornets at the Staples Center on Tuesday.
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