Kobe Bryant Out Against Thunder Saturday With Sore Shoulder

Kobe Bryant #24 of the Los Angeles Lakers talked about the Olympics, the All-Star Game and picked his top 5 players he’s ever faced on a conference call.

Kevin Durant’s Oklahoma City Thunder (OKC) look to bounce back from a midweek loss to Cleveland, hosting Kobe Bryant’s Los Angeles Lakers on Saturday night. “We haven’t had a doctor or anybody look at him yet”, Lakers coach Byron Scott said.

Bryant has averaged only 16.7 points on 33.9 percent shooting, 4.3 rebounds and 3.4 assists in 30.8 minutes per game.

Julius Randle again had difficulty with his accuracy (two points on 1-for-7 shooting) and D’Angelo Russell had more shots (13) than points (12), though he had seven rebounds and five assists at Chesapeake Energy Arena.

In the days after Bryant’s retirement announcement three weeks ago, ticket resales to see the Lakers spiked 85 percent, with an nearly equal increase for home and away games, according to Ticketmaster. It’s that thing of, ‘Kobe’s been around for a long time, I’ve hated him all these years and now I want to say goodbye to him.

“We have to develop our core players”, Lakers general manager Mitch Kupchak said in an interview with Los Angeles News Group.

I understand this is what the Rockets do, but after the first or second time that doesn’t work, how about running a play instead and not just taking a quick three? This was the first game for Howard and the Rockets since trade rumors and speculations about his happiness in Houston started.

They led 67-41 at halftime, and even when Thunder coach Billy Donovan rested his starters in the fourth the Lakers were unable to narrow the gap.

“It’s not something I’m absolutely pressing for but being part of the Olympic experience is a handsome thing”, Bryant said.

Bryant said he expects the megastar trend of the National Basketball Association to continue in the wake of Michael Jordan, LeBron James and himself, saying, “I think there’s going to be a player in the next 10 years that’s going to rise above it all”.

Bryant is now dealing with a sore right shoulder, a byproduct of dunking in the Lakers game on December 17 against the Houston Rockets. “To go there one last time to play and be in that city one more time, it’s going to be a lovely, handsome moment”.

But just as Scott boldly projected that Russell, Randle and Clarkson “can be All-Star-type caliber players”, he noted all three have to improve on “everything”. Their win-loss record, an atrocious 4-23 with a winning percentage of only.148, is the worst in franchise history at this point in a season. “They gave me a fantastic opportunity”.