Kobe's Injury more Serious than he's Letting On...

[Jordan-esque]

How long does it take for a throbbing dislocated finger to heal? I'm just glad it wasn't like Vlad's torn ligament injury that required surgery, but still... it's bad, bad for Kobe and the Lakers.

Kobe's injury seems a lot more serious than he makes it look out there. Notice that whenever there is a dead ball, you could always see him grip his right fingers and trying to pull and massage them. Sometimes he even does it while the ball is still in play as he runs to his defensive sets.

Kobe was 38.3 ppg before the injury on this 9-game road trip. But now he's just a shocking 8.5 ppg after he hurt it! Ouch!

Only 7 field goals made in the last 2 games??? He usually gets 7 field goals made in 1 half!

Not only that, but he's been missing layups! Point-blank layups! It's like he got the Kwame disease, he's got the Kwame pinkie! It's been so bad, that he tries to use his left hand as much as he can when going up for the lay-ins.

I like him trying to be more of a facilitator now than he already is knowing he can't shoot as well as he'd like, but his offense seem to be hurting the Lakers more especially in very close games because he just can't get his shots to go in.

Not to mention the simple turnovers he's starting to commit. When was the last time we saw a back-court violation from Kobe with the game on the line?

Kobe says he can't feel his finger, like it's not there. And after last night's game, he said it was throbbing really bad.

Are the Lakers better off with Kobe taking a couple days off rehabing his finger, or just playing through it - would that just make his injury worse? Now or the long run? Should Kobe still participate in the 3-point or even the All-Star game? How much rest does Kobe even need to heal an injury like that?

Damn you Jason Kidd!

[Danny Darko]

That's an injury I've had and it's not a good prognosis. It's takes months and I wouldn't be surprised if it is like Vlad's in the end with surgery being required.

[semi-sentient]

Damn you Jason Kidd!

Kidd?

Kobe dislocated his finger when he was going for a steal against Carter on the previous possession.

[Dexmor]

Why are the Lakers letting him play is what I want to know.
Also Lebron had that to and he only missed 6 games.
He needs to realize it's not a sprint it's a marathon and take a couple games off and I think he would be fine if he just did that.

[magicman123]

yea i think kobe should sit the next game out..lol

[CX44]

I watched Bernard King play with two fingers taped together on both hands and drop 50 points two games in a row. Kobe does not need to sit out.

[The Laker Kid]

Why are the Lakers letting him play is what I want to know.

Lakers' trainers know best. IF they know that making Mamba play is in fact detrimental to his injury, they wouldn't let him play. The fact that he's still on the floor means the injury is (hopefully) negligible.

[bww78]

Vlad never had surgery, it healed on it's own.

[Kreuk]

Lakers' trainers know best.

you're in dangerous waters, my friend.

[FutureDynasty]

Is it the same injury that LeBron had earlier this season?

[Jordan-esque]

Is it the same injury that LeBron had earlier this season?

Not quite.

Cleveland Sports News:

LeBron James underwent an MRI on Thursday at the Toronto Health and Wellness Centre -- a Cleveland Clinic satellite -- and it confirmed he indeed has a left index finger sprain.

"The treatment is just like how you would treat an ankle sprain," Harmat said. "I don't know the exact degree of LeBron's injury but you treat it with ice, rest, anti-inflammatories and therapy to get the range of motion back."

There's no knowledge as to how severe the injury is, but Harmat provided two scenarios.

"In the worst case, a finger sprain could mean surgery," Harmat said. "In the best case, buddy taping the finger [taping it next to the middle finger] and letting him go out there and do what he likes to do."

"It can be messed up," Traylor said. "I had a bad sprain once and it was hard to move my finger.

"Depending on how bad it is, it'll probably take about seven to 10 days before LeBron's finger is right. He's lucky it's his non-shooting hand. It won't affect his shot."

Lebron's sprain came from his NON-shooting hand.

He missed 5 games around December rehabilitating his finger.

[yahimtodd]

Why are the Lakers letting him play is what I want to know.
Also Lebron had that to and he only missed 6 games.
He needs to realize it's not a sprint it's a marathon and take a couple games off and I think he would be fine if he just did that.

Lebron had a sprained finger on his non shooting hand hes a puss kobe is playing to draw a crowd and still be kobe we would win last night if another player could step up like ummmmmm GASOL

[hermes]

i don't think kobe will sit out
even though it might be the right thing to do

[djericho]

Kobe tried too hard... dribbled it off his foot into the backcourt

where the effort should have been made was on the defensive side. They made Joe Johnson, Tyron Lue and Childress look like NBA legends.

[DEEP3CL]

Obviously nobody ever play some serious ball, let's see if you can shoot with a sore hand thats taped. This is a non topic.

[CITYOFANGELSX3]

Kobe refuses to sit out any games, because he'd be labeled soft like Tmac and VC. He has a ton of heart and would play with 1 leg if he had to.

[Danny Darko]

Vlad never had surgery, it healed on it's own.

The diagnosis was that it either needed months of rehab or surgery. Vlad's shot sucked all year after passing on surgery. I was just stating that Kobe likely needs either rehab for longer than the rest of the season or he might need surgery. Depends on what they aren't saying about the ligament. It's obvious there's nerve damage and that stays for months at the very least.

[Sedition]

I completely dislocated the first joint off the knuckle on my pinky finger during a game of bball about 4 years ago. To this day, i can't completely straighten out my pinky... too much fibrous scar tissue from where the joint capsule essentially ripped apart. Took me about 3 weeks to regain about 90% of the range of motion in that joint, which is pretty much where I've been sitting at for the past 4 years.

It's a f'ing pain in the as$ injury.

[milesfides]

First of all, Kobe needs to play more of a facilitator with the injury? He had 10 assists that game. 8 assists in the previous. That's exactly what he's doing.

Second, the costly turnover last night was his only one of the night. That's right, 10 assists and 1 turnover. If it makes a difference to anybody, he lost the ball when he tried to grip it with his right hand. He did not dribble off his foot.

Third, Kobe's poor shooting isn't taking us out of games. He's taken significantly fewer shots than his season average, which is 20+. He's taken 13 and 16 since the injury. His increase in assists is somewhat offsetting his own misses, especially since his assists frequently lead to wide open three-point makes.

Fourth, he doesn't need to take time off, he just needs to play more aggressively all around. Kobe could still help us tremendously, not just with his playmaking, but by being aggressive on the boards, aggressive on defense, etc.

Kobe still has to take shots that are open to him. He'll eventually adjust.

The bigger, more fundamental problem is that Kobe trying to play like a soft point guard, and that's just not his game.

But Pau and Odom and Turiaf need to make a more concerted effort to attack the basket. If they're not providing an inside presence, we'll continue to rely on perimeter shots, which is eventually going to catch up with us, as it did last night. We need balance in the offense, our bigs cannot play soft.

[Jordan-esque]

First of all, Kobe needs to play more of a facilitator with the injury? He had 10 assists that game. 8 assists in the previous. That's exactly what he's doing.

No complaining there. As said on my original post I like the fact that Kobe is trying to be the facilitator when he knows his limited on his shooting.

Second, the costly turnover last night was his only one of the night. That's right, 10 assists and 1 turnover. If it makes a difference to anybody, he lost the ball when he tried to grip it with his right hand. He did not dribble off his foot.

Only reason I quoted that TO being part of the injury was based on what Kobe said during his press conference:

"I'll try to muscle through it over the next couple days,'' Bryant said, adding his finger didn't allow him to feel the ball properly on the late turnover.

"It bounced out of my hand,'' he said.

http://www.nba.com/games/20080206/LALATL/recap.html

Third, Kobe's poor shooting isn't taking us out of games. He's
taken significantly fewer shots than his season average, which is 20+. He's taken 13 and 16 since the injury. His increase in assists is somewhat offsetting his own misses, especially since his assists frequently lead to wide open three-point makes.

Fourth, he doesn't need to take time off, he just needs to play more aggressively all around. Kobe could still help us tremendously, not just with his playmaking, but by being aggressive on the boards, aggressive on defense, etc.

Kobe still has to take shots that are open to him. He'll eventually adjust.

The bigger, more fundamental problem is that Kobe trying to play like a soft point guard, and that's just not his game.

But Pau and Odom and Turiaf need to make a more concerted effort to attack the basket. If they're not providing an inside presence, we'll continue to rely on perimeter shots, which is eventually going to catch up with us, as it did last night. We need balance in the offense, our bigs cannot play soft.

Completely agree. The whole game our big guys were pretty much playing perimeter instead of post. And to add to that, not just our big guys but our guards as well. I mean no one for the Lakers even seemingly bothered to drive towards the basket until it was too late when we already had lost the lead.