Lakers' Bryant takes part in practice
By Elliott Teaford | eteaford@scng.com | Orange County Register
EL SEGUNDO – Kobe Bryant practiced with his teammates Saturday for the first time in almost a week. If there is no soreness in his injured left ankle today, if he makes it through Monday's workout and there's no pain, then he might play Tuesday.
"If not, I'm firing everybody (on the training staff)," he said, laughing.
That's a lot of ifs, but that was Bryant's best guesstimate for his return from a strained peroneal tendon. He originally was hurt in a Jan. 29 game against the Philadelphia 76ers, and then aggravated it Feb. 3 against the Charlotte Bobcats.
"The ankle was still sore at certain points, but it went away," he said when asked about his activity in Saturday's practice. "It didn't linger or anything like that, so I was able to move and pretty much do anything I wanted."
Bryant participated in the team's scrimmage but not in a series of conditioning drills, according to coach Phil Jackson.
So, will Bryant be able to play in the Lakers' next game Tuesday against the Grizzlies in Memphis?
"Should be," he said. "It's been long enough. I felt good. Obviously, tendons are different things entirely. It kind of has a mind of its own as to when it heals. I felt fine. I can jump, drive, push off. I can get to the basket. It's just a matter of how it feels (today).
"You have to work your way through it for a couple of games to see how it feels."
Bryant said conditioning shouldn't be an issue once he returns. He has been sidelined for five games – four Lakers victories and one defeat. He also did not play in the All-Star Game on Feb. 14. His last game was Feb. 5 against the Denver Nuggets.
His next game will be the 1,000th of his career. However, he said it ceased to be a big deal when teammate Derek Fisher played in his 1,000th game Feb. 10 at Utah.
"He actually brought it up," Bryant said, smiling. "He said, `I beat you to 1,000 games.' I said, `If I knew it, I would have just limped through a game."'
Bryant also acknowledged having difficulty sitting through the Lakers' last-second loss to the Boston Celtics on Thursday. He watched the game from the relative isolation of the Lakers' training room at Staples Center.
"Luke (Walton) came up with the best solution to the problem," Bryant said of watching the final seconds without being able to help.
"He said, `The next time you can't play just sit on the bench in uniform. If it comes down to that situation, you check in."'
The Lakers lost to Boston 87-86 after Fisher missed a jump shot at the buzzer.
More medical news
Sasha Vujacic suffered a bruised right shoulder when he ran into a hard pick set by Boston's Kendrick Perkins in the second half Thursday.
Vujacic continued to play but knew something was wrong right away. He's expected to be out for a couple of weeks.
"It's pretty painful," he said. "It's frustrating. But that's the way it is, right? I think I fell down also. I felt something. It was frustrating. I didn't want to come out. After the game it got worse and worse and the next day it was terrible."
Elliott Teaford
Elliott Teaford covers the Anaheim Ducks for the Orange County Register and the Southern California News Group. He covered the Ducks for 12 years, including the Stanley Cup season, for the Los Angeles Times and the Daily Breeze before returning to the beat in 2018 for SCNG. He also covered the Lakers for five seasons, including their back-to-back NBA championships in 2009 and '10. He once made a jump shot over future Utah Jazz center Mark Eaton during a pickup game in 1980 at Cypress College.