Lakers fans, you can exhale now.
Kobe was back at the Lakers practice facility today, and while he skipped the practice itself (instead receiving treatment on his knee) he said he is ready to go tomorrow night when the Lakers have a rematch against Charlotte.
“If I’m good enough to go, I’ll go,” Bryant said. “I don’t see why not.”
Everyone probably should have figured everything was fine last night, when Kobe was sitting on the bench for the second half of the game cracking jokes. But after losing Bynum to a knee injury last year, Lakers fans are as jittery as a poodle after an espresso.
Kobe was concerned as well, admitting he got up every couple of hours last night to walk around and test out his knee. He wasn’t convinced he would feel okay until this morning. He added he saw the video and, “it looked pretty bad.”
The bottom line now it “feels okay.” Kobe said this would not be an injury that should hold him back.
Phil Jackson was a little more cautious than Kobe, saying that his star player’s knee was “a little sore.” While Kobe may want to play, this is the preseason so Jackson may try to rest him Thursday night in Anaheim.
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That’s because what really matters comes next Tuesday, when the Lakers open the season against Portland. Kobe said he will be ready to go and 100% for that game.
