Kobe Bryant’s first dunk of the season, though electrifying, resulted in a sore right shoulder and a missed game for the 37-year-old legend.
The dunk on Clint Capela "didn't help", but Bryant said the shoulder had been sore for a few days before that.
— Mike Trudell (@LakersReporter) December 20, 2015
Byron Scott said the OKC team doctors looked at Kobe's shoulder and determined it isn't anything serious. Just soreness. Should be fine.
— Mike Trudell (@LakersReporter) December 20, 2015
Scott was encouraged by that conversation with Gary Vitti after the doctors looked at Kobe. Everything seems OK w/t shoulder.
— Mike Trudell (@LakersReporter) December 20, 2015
Los Angeles Lakers head coach Byron Scott doesn’t want Bean trying any more jams.
Kobe and the Lakers continue to insist that he’ll suit up Tuesday in Denver.
Per the LA Daily News:
“I don’t want him to dunk no more,” Lakers coach Byron Scott, said laughing. “I’ll tell him to save it for Game 82. Then he can dunk again.”
Bryant missed Saturday’s loss to Oklahoma City amid soreness in his right shoulder, two days after throwing down a one-handed dunk over Houston forward Clint Capela. That marked Bryant’s first dunk of for the 2015-16 season and since tearing the rotator cuff in his right shoulder against New Orleans in late January. […] The Lakers do not expect Bryant to face the same scenario. The Lakers (4-23) listed Bryant as probable to play on Tuesday against the Denver Nuggets (11-16) at Pepsi Center. Bryant traveled from Denver to Los Angeles on Sunday to see family, according to multiple sources. But Bryant did not see a doctor and will return to Denver on Monday, sources said.
Bryant contended on Saturday that he felt soreness in his shoulder before the dunk, though it sounded like Scott hopes his star player exercises more caution. […] “When the adrenaline is flowing, it’s real hard to tell a guy ‘Don’t dunk,’” Scott said. “That might have been his last one. But he knows himself more than anybody.”
