Bryant Is Optimistic About Foot Problem

Kobe Bryant walked up to the practice court and stopped short, toting a menacing-looking black box in his left hand.

As teammates ran up and down the court a few feet away, Bryant took a seat on a padded table with the black box next to him, the words “control current” and “battery voltage” stenciled into the side of the electro-stimulation device.

Bryant did not practice for a second consecutive day, instead watching and waiting as electrodes drove a therapeutic electric current and anti-inflammatory medicine into various parts of his left foot in an effort to curb the plantar fasciitis he was diagnosed with last Wednesday.

Bryant also underwent ultrasound treatment, icing and joint mobilization, a process where trainer Gary Vitti massaged and manipulated the bones in Bryant’s foot to create more mobility in the smaller joints of the feet.

Bryant is expected to play tonight against the Clippers, but his progress will be measured game by game, even quarter by quarter.

“I’ve got the swelling down a lot,” Bryant said Tuesday. “My foot feels a lot better than it did. We’ll try to heal this thing up. My sense is it’s gotten a lot better. I’ll just see if we can’t have the same kind of jump [today]. Hopefully, we’ll be able to keep it under wraps for the rest of the season.”

At the same time, Bryant acknowledged a contingency plan in case the pain lingers and the condition becomes chronic.

“If it does get to that point, I’ll just practice anyway because that’s going to be a condition, and I’ll just manage it,” he said.

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Vlade Divac almost left home without it.

The Laker center was pumping gas into his sport utility vehicle before heading to the airport for the beginning of last week’s trip, but he left his wallet on the SUV’s roof as he drove away.

A screenwriter who had just moved from Hawaii and was staying at an airport hotel found the wallet in the middle of Sepulveda Boulevard. Shawn Corridan, 45, figured he was being duped and scanned for TV cameras after he pulled over, opened the wallet and saw Divac’s driver’s license and American Express card.

“I can’t tell you how many times I was looking around, smirking, saying, ‘Who’s kidding me?’ ” Corridan said. “I would have looked around for ‘Candid Camera’ and Allen Funt, but he’s been gone for a while. I knew I wasn’t being ‘Punk’d’ because I’m not a celebrity.”

Corridan called the credit-card company, which tracked down Divac within 15 minutes.

Divac met Corridan at the hotel -- “The guy was as nice as can be,” Corridan said -- and retrieved his wallet.

The Lakers later contacted Corridan and gave him dinner for three and three tickets for Sunday’s game against the Chicago Bulls.

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Coach Rudy Tomjanovich said Divac was a “maybe” for Sunday’s game. Divac has begun practicing for the first time since suffering a herniated disk in his back in September. “I know he knows how to play, but still ...,” Tomjanovich said. “People condition for months to play in the NBA.”

TONIGHT

Clippers at Lakers, 7:30, FSN

Site -- Staples Center.

Radio -- KLAC (570), KWKW (1330), XTRA (690/1150).

Records -- Lakers 4-4, Clippers 5-3.

Record vs. Clippers (2003-04) -- 3-1.

Update -- The Lakers are 17-3 against the Clippers since Staples Center opened in 1999.