Kobe Bryant misses Tuesday’s scrimmages, Sasha Vujacic looks good early at camp.
Los Angeles Lakers superstar Kobe Bryant remains on the mend four days into training camp due to a swollen knee. However, despite his absence in Tuesday’s scrimmages, another young stud
was showing maturity on the court, prompting the Phil Jackson to place him on the first-team unit.
The 32-year-old Bryant is taking a careful approach towards recovery after undergoing a knee surgery in his right knee in July.
Bryant, 2008 NBA MVP, is still logging limited time in practice due to a slight swelling of his knee. Nevertheless, the superstar is expected to increase his participation in the succeeding
weeks.
"The surgery takes too long to recover with the kind of surgery I need to do to fix it," Bryant told ESPN at training camp. "I would just miss too much of the season. It didn't make sense.
To miss so much of the season I could play with doesn't make any sense."
Meanwhile, backup guard Sasha Vujacic is currently having an impressive training camp, as the Slovenian shooter unloaded a barrage of jump shots during Tuesday’s scrimmages.
Vujacic spent his summer with girlfriend and tennis sweetheart Maria Sharapova in Florida, where the two pro athletes worked out their conditioning and physique.
In six seasons with the Lakers, Vujacic averaged 4.9 points and 1.7 boards in limited playing time. He also knocked down two crucial free throws to help the Lakers secure their second
consecutive championship last June.
With his current form, Vujacic will likely gain more minutes this coming season. The Lakers coach also admitted he’s impressed with Vujacic’s maturity on the court.
"I'll tell Sasha [Vujacic] to shut the [expletive] up, so I can stop having to go to bat for him [with the referees] all the time," Bryant said in jest about his teammate.
Aside from Vujacic, Jackson also cited the court leadership of Steve Blake, who sustained a sprained finger Saturday.
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