Lakers Injury Update: Kobe Bryant

As promised, updates on Kobe Bryant‘s calf injury are now available and ready to be reported.

According to Lakers’ sideline reporter, Mike Trudell, Bryant did not practice yesterday and will not play against the Golden State Warriors tonight in San Diego.

This should be concerning for many reasons, the main being that Bryant does not get to fulfill his goal of playing all eight preseason games. Bryant’s priorities now shift once again from trying to get the “rust off, get his timing and get his legs ready,” to simply getting healthy.

Though it is way too early to make false assumptions about Bryant’s injury, which is being called a “leg contusion,” at this point in his career any injury is cause for concern.

J.A. Adande made this point clear on Twitter, relating Bryant’s injury to the same one Steve Nash suffered against the Portland Trail Blazers in 2012. That injury was also first reported as just a “bruise.”

While die hard Lakers fans still hold the belief that Bryant is indestructible, a trait they believe will allow him to play forever, the sad reality of it is that his time is coming to an end sooner than later.

As a 20 year veteran, and more importantly 37 year old, any injury should be treated with care. So even though Coach Byron Scott claims that Bryant’s injury is “not serious” and just a “leg bruise,” fans should be smart enough to wait for an official report before blindly taking the coach’s word for it.

Byron maintained Kobe's injury is "not serious" despite not practicing today
— Mark Medina (@MarkG_Medina) October 15, 2015

At this point in his career, Bryant should cherish every minute of extra rest he can get. Having said that, his time off is not truly relaxing considering the events surrounding his close friend, Lamar Odom.

Byron conceding that Kobe is taking the news on Lamar pretty hard
— Mark Medina (@MarkG_Medina) October 15, 2015