Lakers Can’t Stop the Pain

The pregame scoreboard montage showed Kobe Bryant dunking, Kwame Brown lifting weights, Vladimir Radmanovic running sprints, Chris Mihm flipping in a hook shot and Phil Jackson yelling orders from the sidelines.

Then the Lakers began their exhibition game -- otherwise known as reality -- and there wasn’t enough room at the end of their bench for all the players wearing suits.

The latest to fall in an injury-ravaged October was Brown, who will be out three to four weeks because of a bruised rotator cuff and bursitis in his right shoulder.

Joining him on the bench Thursday against the Clippers were Mihm, who is looking more and more likely to miss the start of the regular season because of a slow recovery from off-season ankle surgery; Brian Cook, who came down awkwardly on a ball and sprained his ankle during pregame layup lines Tuesday in Las Vegas; Radmanovic, who is out at least one more exhibition game because of a sprained ligament in his right hand; Shammond Williams, who is day-to-day with an abdominal strain; and Bryant, who has done only light scrimmaging since off-season knee surgery but might play Sunday against Phoenix, the only bit of acceptable injury news for the Lakers.

Not on the bench but not forgotten in the NFL-style injury report the team sent to media members Thursday afternoon were Aaron McKie, out at least two more games because of disk irritation and inflammation in his back, and Von Wafer, out because of a bruised heel.

And, of course, Jackson is still not coaching games while he recovers from hip-replacement surgery. The Lakers are 11 days from their season opener against the Suns.

Their pride might have been injured after surrendering a 3-1 series lead against Phoenix in May. Now they’re simply injured, period, eight men and a coach out of Thursday’s game, a 91-90 Lakers loss.

Further frustrating them is a friendly top-heavy schedule, 15 of their first 20 games at home and a 16th designated as a road game against the Clippers.

“It’s definitely a setback, yes,” assistant coach Kurt Rambis said. “We don’t even have our secure starting lineup out there. It does hamper the development of the team, but this is what you have to deal with. These are things that come up in any physical sport.”

Bryant will not play tonight against New Orleans, but a team official said he might play Sunday against the Suns in San Diego. The Lakers have one more exhibition game after that, Thursday against Denver in Anaheim.

Bryant is normally known to be a quick healer, but his recovery period from arthroscopic knee surgery was estimated to be eight to 12 weeks after the July 15 procedure. Saturday will mark the beginning of the 15th week.

Bryant has felt soreness in his knee and said it was “ginger” on Wednesday. He felt better Thursday and said he would “be back shortly.”

As shortly as Sunday’s game?

“Hopefully,” he said. “It would be nice. It’s feeling all right. It’s just getting over that last hurdle. That last little bit takes the longest sometimes. We’re just making sure we stick to the script and get that done.”

Brown, who played well at the end of last season, was knocked back awkwardly by Andrew Bynum while attempting a shot at practice last week. The injury was initially diagnosed as a sprain, but a second opinion showed the rotator cuff bruise and the presence of bursitis, the painful swelling of small sacs that help joints throughout the body move more easily, including those in the shoulder.

“I’m having trouble lifting my arm,” Brown said. “They told me it was going to get weaker and weaker if I didn’t sit out. I’d rather sit out now than try to play and push through and sit out later.”

The Lakers are still without Mihm, meaning Bynum could be their starting center for the season opener four days after his 19th birthday.

“He’s going to have to learn by fire,” Rambis said. “Right now he’s going to get some significant time just because other people are hurt. But now he’s got to step up to that challenge.”

Other alternatives are Ronny Turiaf, Cook or even Lamar Odom. Cook’s sprained ankle is a day-to-day situation.

Mihm, the starting center the last two seasons, has had to dial down his rehabilitation work in recent days because of pain and swelling in his surgically repaired right ankle. Mihm missed 24 of the Lakers’ last 25 games after landing on the foot of Seattle forward Rashard Lewis and sustaining a severe sprain. He underwent surgery July 26.

mike.bresnahan@latimes.com