It’s been eight days since Los Angeles Lakers guard Kobe Bryant suffered a lower leg contusion, after taking a knee to his calf in the team’s matchup against the Sacramento Kings in Las Vegas last week. Bryant has yet to practice, though he came in to the Lakers practice facility on Wednesday to receive treatment.
Bryant is listed as doubtful for the Lakers preseason finale against the Golden State Warriors on Thursday night at Honda Center, and head coach Byron Scott says there’s only about a 10 percent chance he could play.
Though Scott has maintained a minimal level of concern for Bryant’s contusion (lower leg bruising), the question lingers whether Bryant will be ready for Opening Night on October 28th against the Minnesota Timberwolves.
“We’re just going to start gearing up for next Wednesday. He (Bryant) says he feels a lot better, but we’ve still got to get him out and just get him on the court and running and all that good stuff. I’m still not in a real hurry, and I’m not concerned he’ll be ready for the 28th,” Scott said about Kobe’s Opening Night status.
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Scott did say he would like Bryant to get a couple practices under his belt, before they make that decision, but does anticipate Bryant being “100 percent” for the first game of the season.
Lou Williams, who had some lingering groin soreness, is officially listed as probable for tomorrow’s game, and is expected to play barring any morning setbacks. Williams was able to practice in full on Wednesday, including full-court scrimmaging.
The Lakers waived center Robert Upshaw and guard Michael Frazier II on Tuesday, and still have a couple cuts to make before the end of the preseason. As expected, Scott said today that Marcelo Huertas has “pretty much” solidified a roster spot.
Metta World Peace and Jabari Brown are both on the fringe of making the final roster.
“Fit,” Scott said about what the Lakers are looking for in their final cuts. “We want this to be a perfect match for all our guys and again, the chemistry with this team has been fantastic and we want that to continue, and I think that’s a lot of the reasons these guys are getting what we’re putting in so much sooner that I expected.”
According to Scott, the final batch of cuts probably won’t be announced until Monday or Tuesday of next week.
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