LOS ANGELES – This is the time when Kobe Bryant’s fractured finger is supposed to be feeling better.
It most certainly is not feeling better, which is a problem considering this is also the time when the Lakers’ schedule gets much harder.
Asked after the Lakers’ loss to the Clippers late Wednesday night about his right index finger, Bryant revealed just how unhappy he is with it by uncharacteristically talking about it.
“It’s sore,” he said. Then he rushed to cover up his admission, saying quickly: “It’s OK. Play through it.”...
...Here at the four-week mark, let’s keep in mind that the diagnosis was a minimum of six weeks for the avulsion fracture to heal. Phil Jackson optimistically speculated at the time that Bryant might need the splint for only two weeks and be healed in four.
None of that stuff has happened, because Bryant keeps playing and keeps getting hit on the finger....
...He got banged on the finger repeatedly by the Houston Rockets on Tuesday night, at one point in the second half after missing a fadeaway against Trevor Ariza showing extreme discomfort.
The pain shook Bryant so much that it initially appeared he had hurt his knee he was running so funny. He wound up discreetly rubbing his knee once the clock stopped, but he was actually just using his knee in an attempt to soothe the pain in his finger...
[...]
..Bryant’s tough-guy persona is no act. He likes playing in pain because it transcends everyday challenges. It’s why Jackson said about Gasol sitting in discomfort while Bryant is playing in pain: “There’s just a different mentality between them.”..
When someone suggested it’d be logical for opposing players wanting to stop him to start whacking at his finger, he answered with a cold stare and bold retort: “Good. I need another 80.”
Ich denke, dass wir im Sommer einen neuen Starting-Point Guard haben werden, vorher wird da wohl nix mehr passieren. Dann hätte ich gerne einen jungen Derek Fisher (und bitte D-Fish als Backup für's Minimum ). Also einen kräftigen, großen Guard mit guter Defense und sicherem Dreier. Anthony Morrow wäre da z.b. ein Traum, Jarrett Jack auch, beide werden aber wohl kaum zu haben sein für uns.
A Lakers source told me the team had its sights set high, as usual, and planned to target the possible acquisition of Chris Bosh when it got closer to the 3 p.m. Feb. 18 trade deadline, and the Raptors might be more likely to move their Olympian/All-Star while still entitled to compensation.
My source believes the Lakers will offer Andrew Bynum for Bosh (if they haven’t done so already) well before the deadline expires. In itself, the one-for-one swap is impossible to make. Bynum’s “base year” essentially allows L.A. to take back but half of his salary this year ($12.5M). Of course, that restriction is lifted when next year’s salary ($13.7M) activates come July 1, at which time a sign-and-trade transaction would be feasible.
Schade, dass Bynum seine Klasse nur abruft, wenn Gasol verletzt ist. Einen Bynum in der Form neben Gasol wäre phantastisch.
Bin gespannt, ob er das jetzt gesammelte Selbstvertrauen auch neben Pau zeigen kann...
Ich kann mir das nur so erklären, dass sein Finger ihn nun doch so stark beeinflusst, dass so ein Spiel zustande kommt.