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Thursday, February 8, 2001
Jackson hopes Bryant sits out All-Star Game
Associated Press
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LOS ANGELES -- A beat-up Kobe Bryant might skip the All-Star
game, with the full blessing of his Los Angeles Lakers coach.
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Hip injury limits Bryant
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Add a hip injury to Kobe Bryant's growing list of ailments.
Bryant suffered the injury Friday against Charlotte when P.J. Brown shoved him into the basket stanchion.
Bryant said he did not shoot at all before Sunday's game against Sacramento and that the injury limited his ability to make hard cuts and jump. He also is dealing with swelling in his right shoulder cap and an inflamed rotator cuff, right hip bursitis, left elbow bursitis and right pinkie soreness.
The Lakers play again Wednesday against Phoenix and Bryant is expected to start.
-- ESPN.com news services
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"Every player I've ever had, I'd rather have sit out of the
All-Star game. It's a meaningless game, it's tiring and it's
wearing on the players," Phil Jackson said Sunday.
"It's a nice showcase for our sponsors in the NBA, but as far
as how much it taxes the players, it takes its toll," added
Jackson, who never was an All-Star as a player but is 2-1 as a
coach in the midseason game.
Bryant, often double- and triple-teamed in the five games since Shaquille O'Neal was sidelined by a strained right arch, has been
nursing a tender right (shooting) shoulder and has a variety of
other aches, including bursitis in his right hip.
He said his health will determine whether he plays in next
Sunday's All-Star game in Washington, D.C., and that he doesn't
really care if the NBA tries to pressure him into playing.
"If I feel like I'm not healthy enough, and I feel like the
All-Star game is going to set me back for the second half of the
season, then I'm not going to play. I'm hurting right now, man; I
wouldn't go," Bryant said Sunday after getting 26 points and 11
rebounds in Los Angeles' 100-94 victory over Sacramento.
Bryant, who has played in two All-Star games, said he really
isn't worrying much about this one.
"I'm really hurting right now. But now we have a day off, so I
get to go and get some treatment, and we only have one game left
until the All-Star break," Bryant said, referring to Wednesday's
game against Phoenix.
O'Neal probably won't be able to play for the West All-Stars
either, and is expected to sit out his sixth consecutive game when
the Lakers host the Suns.
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