Though Kobe Bryant has already withdrawn himself from the All-Star, Los Angeles still made it official by announcing that the Black Mamba will have his knee re-examined again not earlier than three weeks from now.
photo credit: ibtimes.com
The Lakers, via their twitter account said on Tuesday (Wednesday PH time) that the injured superstar guard was still in pain and has his knee swelling, making legitimately unavailable for the All-star.
“Kobe Bryant was examined tonight & still has pain and swelling in his left knee. Examined again in approximately 3 weeks,” (from @Lakers)
This is a big blow yet again for the LA, which has been crashing in the cellar after the one-time MVP injured his knee in December 17, playing only his sixth game of the season.
Better news for the Los Angeles fans though, is the possible return of point guard Steve Nash this week.
Nash, who is set to join the practice on Thursday, is day-to-day and could play on Friday night according to Lakers’ spokesman John Black.
“The plan for him is to have a practice on Thursday and he’s basically day-to-day,” Black said.
“We’ll update you on whether he’ll play Friday based on how Thursday’s practice goes.” He added (From probasketballtalk.nbcsports.com article)
The comeback of the veteran playmaker will be a huge lift for the Lakers, who have been relying only to their D-league pick-up guard Kendall Marshall to man the point.
Aside from Nash, Steve Blake and Jordan Farmar are also said to be back in the roster by next week.
The Lakers are currently in the second to the last spot of western conference, ahead of Sacramento with a dismal 16-30 record.