Bryant’s Fast Break Slows Down Lakers

Right about now, Phil Jackson might be wondering why in the world he came out of retirement to coach the Lakers.

Trying to install a new offense and instill a new attitude in his new team, Jackson, one game into the exhibition season, suddenly finds himself without starting shooting guard Kobe Bryant and forward Travis Knight.

Bryant broke a bone in his right hand in the first quarter of Wednesday night’s exhibition opener against the Washington Wizards at Kansas City and will be out at least six weeks.

Knight sprained his right ankle in the second quarter and is expected to be gone three to four weeks.

Help had already arrived before Bryant’s injury. The Lakers concluded negotiations Wednesday with veteran guard Ron Harper, who served Jackson so well in the backcourt in Chicago. Harper was at practice Thursday and will now get more playing time than anticipated, but, at 35 and coming off knee surgery in the off-season, he can’t be expected to adequately fill the gaping hole left by Bryant. Bryant was coming off his best season, in which averaged 19.9 points, 5.3 rebounds and 3.8 assists. So what will Jackson do?

“I have got no idea,” he said. “If we had to open the season tonight, we would have real problems.”

The injury will give Rick Fox more time in the backcourt and will afford an opportunity for players such as Devean George and Sam Jacobson to show they belong.

The Lakers weren’t aware of the severity of Bryant’s injury at the time it occurred. He isn’t even sure who hurt him.

“I was trying to jump up for a rebound,” said the 21-year-old, who had been preparing to start his fourth season with the Lakers. “There were a lot of bodies in there, and I felt an elbow on my hand. I still have no idea whose elbow it was.”

Bryant continued to play though the pain in his hand grew worse.

“It was hurting like crazy,” he said. “I looked at [Derek] Fisher and told him, ‘I think I broke my hand.’ ”

At one point, Bryant had a chance for a dunk.

“I wanted to,” he said, “but when I tried to go up with the ball, I couldn’t.”

Still, by the time Bryant headed for the office of team physician Steve Lombardo on Thursday morning, the Laker guard had convinced himself the problem wasn’t serious.

“I thought he was going to tell me I had a sprained ligament,” Bryant said.

When Lombardo informed Bryant the injury was far more serious, Bryant wasn’t ready for the news.

“I was in shock,” he said. “I was down. I was upset. I felt like it wasn’t happening. Why?”

But by the time he arrived at practice later Thursday morning, Bryant had his trademark smile back on his face and his old resolve back in his mind.

“I pulled myself together,” he said. “I still have my left hand. I am going to get ready and be in shape when I come back. I will be in better shape than ever.”

At least physically. What will be tough for Bryant and his teammates will be learning and polishing their new triangle offense without one of the key components.

“A lot of it is mental,” Bryant said. “A lot of it is watching. That’s why it’s important for me to be here.”

With Bryant on the sidelines, there will be more pressure on Fisher, his backcourt partner.

“It’s going to be tough,” Fisher conceded. “This offense requires all five guys on the same page. With Kobe out, we are going to be missing someone with talent, someone who gets respect from other players. I think he is bright enough to learn if he is here every day watching. But I know it’s not going to be the same as doing it.”

It appears there is little chance Bryant will be doing anything in regular-season games before the end of November. If he came back in exactly six weeks, that would put him on the court for a Nov. 24 game against the Utah Jazz, meaning he would have missed 12 games.

The loss of Knight, who came out in the second quarter Wednesday and did not return, will further weaken the Lakers’ depth.

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Kobe’s Injury

Kobe Bryant hoped he had only sprained a ligament the Lakers’ first exhibition game, but it turned out to be a broken bone. If he returns in six weeks, he will have been sidelined for 12 regular-season games.

Source: American Medical Assn.