After returning from an achilles injury, Kobe Bryant of the Los Angeles Lakers, has suffered a setback.
The Los Angeles Lakers announced on Thursday that Bryant is expected to miss at least six weeks with a fracture of the lateral tibial plateau in his left knee.
Bryant suffered the injury Tuesday night during the Lakers’ 96-92 victory over the Memphis Grizzlies.
The injury is a major blow to the Lakers, who in November gave Bryant a two-year, $48.5 million dollar contract extension.
The team also announced Thursday Steve Nash, who has just played in six games this season, will miss another month because of nerve root irritation.
Jordan Farmar will also miss another week as he recovers from a hamstring injury.
With injuries to their backcourt, the Lakers quickly moved to add depth. They agreed to a deal with Kendall Marshall on Thursday night. Marshall, who was taken 13th overall by the Phoenix Suns in the 2012 draft, had been playing in the D-League for the Delaware 87ers where he was acquired off of waivers earlier this month after having what has been a disappointing beginning to his career.
This recent injury to Bryant itself will not require surgery, only rest. But since it is on the same leg that he tore his achilles, one can wonder if the two are connected or if he came back to soon.
After returning to the court on Dec. 8, Bryant was averaging 13.8 points and 6.3 assists in six games, shooting 42.5 percent from the field and averaging 29.5 minutes. Although his numbers have not been very Kobe-like, they were getting better over the past couple games. His shooting percentage was going up slightly, and he was committing less turnovers. Bryant was starting to get back into basketball shape after having missed training camp and being months without doing any basketball activity
In the game in which he was injured, Bryant tied his season high with 21 points on 9-of-18 shooting. Bryant also hit a deep 3-pointer late in the fourth quarter to help seal the win, which is remarkable because it appears as if he suffered the fracture in the third quarter.
The Lakers were 2-4 since the return of Bryant and 12-13 overall which puts them in 11th place in the tough Western Conference.
With no Kobe, Nash, and Farmar, the Lakers are in trouble. We will see what the Lakers will do within the next couple weeks.
joshcolon 