Kobe Bryant Injury: Los Angeles Lakers Wise to Rest Him in Final Stretch Run
Kobe Bryant will be on the shelf again on Wednesday night in the Los Angeles Lakers' first meeting of the season against the San Antonio Spurs. It was reported by Mike Bresnahan of the Los Angeles Times via Twitter on Tuesday afternoon.
Bryant has a sore left shin and has missed the last two games for the Lakers.
During his absence, the Lakers were blown out of the water in a road loss at Phoenix and barely escaped a close victory against the worst team in the Western Conference, the New Orleans Hornets.
Although it sounds crazy, the Lakers are better off resting Kobe, even if Wednesday night's game against the Spurs is a crucial matchup to see where the Lakers stand in the Western Conference.
It's pretty clear that the Lakers miss Kobe. Currently, Devin Ebanks is starting in his place, and he's highly inexperienced. In fact, prior to Saturday's game, Ebanks hadn't logged 20 minutes of playing time since the first two games of the regular season. He had been used sparingly throughout much of the season, and all of a sudden, in the last two games, he's been putting up 26 minutes.
That being said, this is only the regular season. The Lakers' No. 1 priority at this point should be staying healthy during the final stretch run. The one man who needs the rest the most is Kobe. He has been averaging almost five more minutes per game on the floor this year compared to last year, and he's obviously one year older.
Kobe has cited fatigue as a possible reason for a few of his poor shooting slumps. That can't happen in the playoffs. If being fresh for the playoffs means missing a few regular season games, then so be it.
The Lakers look like they're on their way to make the playoffs anyway. Plus, it's not like the Lakers can't win without Kobe. They still have two towering big men in Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum who can give opposing teams nightmares in the paint. Also, the addition of Ramon Sessions has made the Lakers offense run more smoothly and has helped guys like Matt Barnes and Metta World Peace elevate their games.
The team could still lock up the Pacific Division if Kobe misses a few games here and there in the final push for the playoffs.
Even the San Antonio Spurs have rested their players on several occasions this season in order to keep them fresh for the playoff push.
All that matters is for a team to qualify for a playoff spot. Seeding doesn't really matter, especially in this hectic and crazy season.
And once the rested Kobe returns from his injury, the Mamba will strike more viciously than ever before, and Lakers fans will be happy to forget the few games they lost late in the regular season because of his absence.
