Ankle injury keeps Kobe Bryant in the locker room again

Kobe Bryant tried with all his might to play Monday night, getting treatment around the clock, working on his sprained left ankle so he could get on the court to help the Lakers against the San Antonio Spurs at Staples Center.

But Bryant was unable to push off on the ankle. He was unable to move on the ankle.

Finally, Bryant decided that “I can’t go,” which meant he would miss his second consecutive game.

Even with Bryant not playing and with center Andrew Bynum out with a bruised right hip, the Lakers defeated the Spurs, 101-89.

Bryant had played in 235 consecutive games before he was forced to shut it down Saturday night.

He last missed a game because of an injury on March 7, 2007, a sprained right ankle keeping him out of a game against the Atlanta Hawks.

The Lakers have won both games Bryant has missed this season, both by double digits.

The 99-82 victory against the Trail Blazers Saturday night snapped a nine-game losing streak in Portland.

The 12-point victory over the Spurs avenged a 20-point defeat at San Antonio last month.

It was a pleasure for Bryant to watch his teammates perform the way they did.

Bryant said he had talked with his teammates about stepping up, about playing at a high level so it didn’t put any added pressure on him to return too soon from his injury.

Bryant said he still was considering playing Wednesday night against the Utah Jazz in Salt Lake City.

“I’ll make a decision on Wednesday, the same thing, a game-time decision,” Bryant said. “[I’ll] just rest up. If I’m ready to go, I’ll play.”

Bryant said he’ll play in the All-Star game Sunday if he’s healthy enough to play.

But Lakers trainer Gary Vitti has suggested that Bryant shut it down until after this weekend’s All-Star break at Dallas Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas.

“Of course he would,” Bryant said, smiling. “I agree. If I’m not able to play, I won’t play. But if I’m healthy, I will. It’s as simple as that.”

Bryant admitted that if the All-Star game had been on Monday night, he wouldn’t have been healthy enough to play.

If Bryant were to sit out Wednesday’s game and the All-Star game, he would get 10 days of rest before the Lakers play another game after the break.

Still, Bryant was asked if Sunday was a possibility.

“I don’t know what it’s going to look like on Sunday,” Bryant said about his ankle. “I’m not clairvoyant.”

The idea, Bryant said, is to push out all the inflammation in the ankle, try to minimize the pain and increase the range of motion and strength in the ankle.

“It’s frustrating. It’s frustrating,” Bryant said. “I’m not used to this [sitting out]. I don’t know what ... a player is supposed to do back here [in the locker room], so I just got treatment on it during the whole game. I don’t know what’s going on half the time.”

It was suggested to Bryant that he has a warrior mentality when it comes to playing through injuries.

He has played this season with a fractured right index finger, back spasms and the ankle injury.

He played all 82 regular-season games the last two seasons.

Now he was being forced to sit out a game because of an injury.

“People make too much of that. I’m not an idiot,” Bryant said. “I’m not just going to run through a wall just to run through a wall.

“If it’s an injury where I feel like I can play through it and have it heal while I’m playing, then I’ll play. But if it’s the type of injury where it’s going to get worse while I’m playing, then I won’t.”

broderick.turner@latimes.com

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