Kobe Bryant will undergo an MRI on his injured right shoulder on Thursday after injuring it during the Lakers game against the New Orleans Pelicans on Wednesday.
Kobe will have an MRI tomorrow on his right shoulder. Lakers calling it a "sore shoulder" right now.
— Mike Bresnahan (@Mike_Bresnahan) January 22, 2015
Bryant injured the shoulder on a dunk in the third quarter, but finished the contest despite the injury, although doing so in obvious discomfort.
Kobe downplayed concerns about his shoulder. He said it was aggravated on third-quarter dunk on Cunningham
— Mark Medina (@MarkG_Medina) January 22, 2015
Upon reentering the game in the fourth quarter, Bryant was in noticeable discomfort, unable to use his right arm for essentially anything. He was forced to dribble left-handed, pass left-handed, and even hit fadeaway jumpers left-handed. Seriously!
Kobe's left-handed jumper. Is he ambidextrous? https://t.co/QORmKDLeWu
— Lake Show Life (@TheLakeShowLife) January 22, 2015
The especially concerning aspect of it all is that head coach Byron Scott failed to remove Bryant from the game late, despite his obvious inability to use his right arm and the Lakers already being blown out. Instead, Bryant jacked up another jumper, forced a couple of misguided passes, and looked overall restricted as everything was done left-handed.
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Particularly calming, though, is how much Bryant downplayed the injury following the game. The 19-year veteran did not seem nearly as worried as his fans, saying the shoulder had been bothering him for weeks. Considering how high Bryant’s pain tolerance is historically, this should hopefully serve as calming news for fans.
The more concerning fact is Scott, who was brought in to protect Bryant (especially from himself) but has clearly failed in doing so. After admitting his faults of handling Bryant earlier in the season and appearing to learn from his mistakes, this is just another example of his misguided ways.
For his sake, the talk of Bryant being shut down before next season may be growing, especially if a simple dunk can lead to a potentially serious injury.
Do you think Bryant should be shut down for the season? Let us know down below.