Kobe Bryant Injury: Lakers Must Consider Sitting the Black Mamba

The last thing the Los Angeles Lakers need right now is more bad news.

Especially if this bad news has "tear," wrist" and "Kobe Bryant" all in the same sentence.

But alas, that's the situation at hand. According to the Los Angeles Times, Kobe tore the lunotriquetral ligament in his right wrist against the Los Angeles Clippers on Monday night. He sustained the injury on a nasty fall after he was denied a point-blank shot by DeAndre Jordan.

If you missed the play, feel free to relive the video below. You'll notice that it was pretty obvious Kobe had done something to his wrist when he landed:

On the bright side, Kobe is considered day-to-day, meaning he could very well be good to go when the Lakers open up against the Chicago Bulls on Christmas Day.

There is, however, a possibility that Kobe's injury could be a little more severe.

Dr. Robert Klapper, orthopedic surgeon at Cedars-Sinai Medical Group, spoke on 710 ESPN Los Angeles on Wednesday, and he said wrist injuries like the one Kobe is dealing with right now can take as long as three or four weeks to heal. It depends on how bad the tear is, of course.

For what it's worth, another doctor told the Times that these injuries can also heal in a couple days, and that Kobe can play through the pain if need be.

But personally, I have a couple problems with the idea.

First and foremost, Kobe kind of needs his right wrist to be healthy to perform up to his capabilities. He's a shooter, and healthy wrists tend to help shooters shoot.

The other problem I have is that the Lakers start their season with a back-to-back-to-back, meaning there's not going to be much time for Kobe's wrist to heal. It's going to be in action, and he will risk making it worse every minute he plays. 

And make no mistake, all it takes is one dirty player to take a swipe at Kobe's wounded wrist. Then the Lakers could be dealing with a disaster.

They may not want to, but the Lakers need to at least consider sitting Kobe for the time being. He won't like it and they won't like it, but it's a long season and there's no need for the Lakers to risk losing their star player before things even get going.

Besides, the Lakers kind of need Kobe to be at his best this season. They're not as strong as they once were, nor are they as deep as they once were.

They have that baffling Lamar Odom trade to thank for that.