Bryant to Play Sunday

Kobe Bryant said he would make his start in Sunday’s All-Star game, only his fourth game since his run of injuries and circumstance began Jan. 12.

He came off the injured list for the second time in three weeks Wednesday, his lacerated right index finger healed in time to play the Houston Rockets. (Jamal Sampson went on the injured list to make room for Bryant). The transaction came five days after he joined the Lakers in Orlando, having spent a week dealing with two hearings in Colorado and a stomach ailment, all only a few days after recovering from a sprained shoulder.

“It was a long week,” Bryant said in his first public comments since. “But everything’s past. When you’re going through something, it seems like it lasts forever. But once you pass it, it’s gone. I’m glad to be here right now.”

Bryant, who took only seven shots in 36 minutes against the Rockets, said his finger felt sturdier when he awoke Wednesday, and he then made the decision to play -- against Houston and in the All-Star game.

“Being healthy for the team was most important,” he said. “[But] playing in the All-Star game is fun, especially with the amount of votes I received.”

He was the Western Conference’s leading vote-getter.

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Late Tuesday night, Bryant surprised longtime Laker observers by strolling from the team locker room alone.

For most of the last 2 1/2 years, after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, Bryant has been shadowed by a security force of at least two and as many as four bodyguards.

Sometimes armed, the guards often accompany Bryant from the team bus, then stand in the locker room or nearby as he dresses and prepares for games. During games, they watch from various posts near the arena floor, one usually near the Laker bench.

Bryant and the Lakers share the cost.

After the Lakers won in Miami, however, Bryant appeared to leave them behind. He slid past a couple of dozen reporters waiting outside the locker room and sat on a folding table 20 yards away, his feet dangling beneath him. For 15 minutes, he talked amiably with arena workers, signed autographs for children who gathered the courage to approach him and posed for photographs with cheerleaders on their way home.

Soon, a security guard arrived, but he stood away from the growing crowd as Bryant smiled and talked about his gashed finger and the prospects for the local Heat.

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Karl Malone and Brian Cook are expected to be examined Monday, Malone for his torn right medial collateral ligament and Cook for his broken right pinkie.

While the Lakers toured the country for most of two weeks, Malone remained in Newport Beach, where he rested his knee and waited to resume his rehabilitation regimen.

Malone’s appointment is with his own doctor. The specialist recommended Malone cease his aggressive workouts and allow the swelling in his knee to subside, advice Malone has chosen to follow.

It is possible Malone lost weeks of recovery time because of his early, strenuous attempts at rehabilitation, and he is not expected back for at least another month.