Bryant Is Out of Sight, but Not Out of Contact
Meanwhile, back in Newport Beach ...
It wasn’t a very exciting day for Kobe Bryant and his right ankle. There were periods of icing and prescribed rest, with phone calls from Bryant to his teammates interspersed throughout.
Bryant did not make the trip to Golden State for Saturday night’s game, but he stayed in contact with those who did.
“He talked to Chris [Mihm], talked to Lamar [Odom], then called me again so he could talk to Chucky [Atkins],” forward Caron Butler said. “It was cool. I like that.”
Butler said he heard from Bryant at least three times Saturday.
“It’s free incoming calls, so that’s a good thing,” Butler said, smiling.
Bryant felt a little better Saturday, but progress is measured in tiny increments these days, with no false visions of the league’s second-leading scorer throwing aside his crutches and appearing ready to play any time soon.
“[Trainer] Gary [Vitti] did say he felt a little bit better,” Coach Rudy Tomjanovich said. “But still it hurts, it throbs. You’ve got to keep the compression on it, and those first couple of days it’s tough.”
He was officially put on the injured list Saturday, meaning he will sit out at least five games, as per league rules. That would make his earliest return date Jan. 26 against the Clippers.
Before the team left for Oakland, Bryant offered up what awaited him this weekend.
“Keeping it wrapped is the hardest part,” Bryant said Friday. “At nighttime, when your ankle starts swelling up, it wants to expand and the tape is not budging. It feels like your foot is about to explode.”
Bryant also wears an air cast to keep the ankle compressed.
“He’s doing better,” Butler said, based on information gleaned from his conversations with Bryant. “He’s doing his treatment and trying to get back right. He wished us the best.
“His presence is still felt. He’s calling and making sure we’re doing all right and preparing and trying to get a victory. That’s a good thing when your leader’s calling like that.”
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It hasn’t been the best of times for NBA teams to be flying in charters.
The Golden State Warriors’ jet had an aborted landing attempt Friday night, two days after the Lakers had one on a return trip to Los Angeles International Airport.
The Warriors landed safely on their second attempt at Oakland International Airport after coming back from a game in Seattle.
Earlier last week, the Denver Nuggets’ charter jet circled the Denver airport for an hour because of snow flurries, was cleared to land and almost overshot the runway, forcing an urgent ascent. The plane then landed 70 miles south in Colorado Springs.
