Injured Kobe Bryant Ruled Out of NBA All-Star Game

 

by Marcel Mutoni @ marcel_mutoni

He didn’t feel like he deserved to play in the 2014 NBA All-Star Game, and now, Kobe Bryant won’t have to.

The Los Angeles Lakers announced on Tuesday night that the superstar guard will be out for at least three more weeks due to ongoing knee pain and swelling. In December, Bryant was initially ruled out for six weeks with a fracture of the lateral tibial plateau in his left knee.

Kobe, as one might expect, is bummed out about the whole thing.

Per the LA Times:

“[I’m] down about it,” Bryant said following the team’s 104-92 loss to the Pacers.

“It’s like an internal swelling,” Bryant said. “It’s different. It’s not something that’s kind of on the surface where you can pinpoint and feel the swelling around. It’s deep in there.”

“Just trying to be patient, trying to be calm, just trying to take it a day at a time,” he said. “I’ve been through worse. The Achilles was much much worse … With the Achilles, I couldn’t move at all. With this one, at least I can walk around a little bit, at least I can do the bike, do something active. Just trying to find the positive in it.”

Kobe has appeared in just six games this season, averaging 13.8 points and 6.3 assists.

Bryant will stick to non-weight bearing exercise, which means mostly working out on a stationary bike. He’ll miss at least the next seven games, including All-Star Weekend (Feb. 14-16.)

The Lakers, losers of five in a row, are 16-30.