Kobe Bryant plays against Pacers despite illness; Nash and Blake still iffy this week – NBA Update
Kobe Bryant is one tough cookie – he has been all throughout his illustrious career – and that is one of the things which make him an all time great.
Earlier Tuesday, when the Black Mamba revealed about his illness on his Facebook page, there were some suggestions that the Los Angeles Lakers talisman might give tonight’s game against the Indiana Pacers a miss.
"Laid up in bed. .. I'm under the weather," he had written. "Drinking a lot of fluids. Trying to shake the aches and chills thru rest, medicine and a lil Bob Marley on the speakers. Big game for us tonight."
But that is just not Kobe is it? And when Los Angeles Lakers coach Mike D’Antoni appeared for the pre game presser, Kobe’s participation was confirmed.
"He told me it's not going to bother him ... He'll play, he'll play hard," said Mike D'Antoni said.
The Lakers are currently 7-7, and have lost two of the last three games under D’Antoni. A major reason for that has been the absence of Steve Nash (fracture in the fibula of left leg) and Steve Blake (lower abdominal strain), the starting and back up point guards at the franchise. Without them, rookie Darius Morris and Chris Duhon have been holding the fort at one, but Bryant has really been the one, setting up the plays. Without him on the floor under these circumstances, the Lakers could really struggle.
D’Antoni also gave an update about the status of the two Steves.
"They're making progress, but we're not there yet," D'Antoni said. "It's a few more days, but both of them are making progress.”
Nash has recently started on-court drills and D’Antoni revealed that the pain is gradually fading away. The timetable for his return however still remains unclear, and it is pretty much sure, that the Lakers will give their ace point guard as much time to recover as possible.
D’Antoni, under whom the team is 2-2, also seemed intent on giving Blake some more time.
"It's going to be a little while," D'Antoni said. "He said he felt better (Tuesday) but he still feels it a little bit and he can't feel that when he starts to practice.”
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