Sore knee forces Lakers’ Brandon Ingram to exit game

Los Angeles Lakers forward Brandon Ingram felt a twinge in his right knee Friday during the second quarter against the Utah Jazz, the team announced.

Ingram returned to the game with a sleeve over the knee, but that did not last. The rookie, who’s played some point guard for the Lakers, was reevaluated at halftime. He sat out the second half with what the team called a sore right knee.

He said it is tendinitis and not serious. “It got kind of sore on me when I was running,” Ingram said after the game. “I feel ok.”

Ingram finished with two points, having made one of his two shots.

Red-hot Kobe

Jazz Coach Quin Snyder very distinctly recalls the last time his team faced the Los Angeles Lakers — particularly a certain stretch when Kobe Bryant couldn’t miss.

“I traded a couple text messages with him this summer,” said Snyder, who was an assistant coach on Mike Brown’s staff during the 2011-12 season. “Short of losing the game, to be a part of that was pretty special given the relationship I was able to form with him. You always want to win the game, but to see him … I watched the tape a couple times the last four minutes where he scored 11 straight. I remembered that. If I didn’t he’d probably remind me, so ...”

Bryant scored 60 points as the Lakers beat the Jazz in his final NBA game.

Snyder also reached out to Bryant in August after the former Laker launched a $100 million venture capital firm and rang the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange.

“He’s probably thinking about other stuff right now than — how many was it — 60 something?” Snyder said.

Calderon sits

The Lakers were without Jose Calderon against the Jazz. Calderon also missed Wednesday’s season opener because of the same left-calf strain.

His injury has bothered him since the Lakers’ first week of training camp when the team was in Santa Barbara. Calf issues have bothered Calderon in the past.

Some optimism for his return lies in the fact that he has been practicing lately. He participated in the Lakers’ Thursday morning practice and also took part in a shootaround Friday morning at Vivint Smart Home Arena.

Mutual respect

Each coach in Friday night’s game held a healthy respect for the basketball knowledge of the man he’d be coaching against.

Lakers Coach Luke Walton played for the Lakers during Snyder’s short stint as an assistant coach.

“I liked his view on the game,” Walton said. “He had a really sharp mind for the way he saw things and explained things. As a player that was a frustrating season for me, but I enjoyed my time with him and our relationship.”

In Walton, Snyder saw an example of when coaches can learn by listening to players. He said Walton had a quiet intelligence, and he sometimes had to ask to draw it out.

“You can always learn a lot from NBA players when you’re coaching if you just pay attention and keep your ears open,” Snyder said. “There’s things that they acquire over a period of a career. Clearly, that stuff translates to him coaching right now.”

tania.ganguli@latimes.com

Follow Tania Ganguli on Twitter @taniaganguli