Kobe Bryant suffers a nasal fracture during the All-Star game: NBA News
Kobe Bryant, the man who has been face of the Los Angeles Lakers for about a decade now and has been the main reason behind their 5th seed in the Western Conference, has suffered a broken nose after Miami Heat’s Dwyane
Wade fouled him in the third quarter.
Kobe left the game briefly after the foul, but returned to complete a 152-149 win over the East on Sunday night. Bryant was reported to be suffering from headaches afterwards and didn't attend the postgame media session. According
to the team website, a CT scan has revealed a broken nose and further updates on Bryant's health will be revealed on Tuesday after a visit to an ENT specialist.
The injury puts Kobe in serious doubt for Wednesday’s game against the Minnesota Timberwolves and if the ailment takes a bit of time to heal, the Lakers will be left very thin on the back court. The injury is all the more significant
because Wade’s Heat are scheduled to take on the Lakers on 4th March and without Kobe, beating Miami, will be next to improbable. Wade, when asked about the foul was a tad unapologetic, but did rue the fact that Kobe got injured;
"Yeah, I obviously didn't try to draw no blood, but I took a foul," Wade said afterwards. "Kobe fouled me two times in a row, so he's still got one up on me. But I'm glad that everything was cool and we got back to being competitive
and having fun."
The injury has put a shadow on Kobe’s record breaking night in which he surpassed Michael Jordan’s record of the most points scored in All-Star games. Bryant scored 27 points on the night and two handed dunk with 4:57 left in
the third saw him eclipse MJ’s tally of 262 points. Bryant has now 271 points.
Wade, who is arguably the next best shooting guard in the league, appreciated Bryant’s feat;
"Tonight, he does what he normally does," Wade said. "He got 27. He's Kobe Bryant. He scores the ball. He's a tough cover. But it's great being a little piece of history. He's one of the best of all time. We will one day say we
had the honor of playing against one of the greatest players to ever play the game of basketball."
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