Walton to sit until after break

Lakers forward Luke Walton has been told to stay away from all basketball-related activities for at least another week following medical tests Monday on his sprained right ankle.

“He will be reevaluated at that time,” said John Black, the team’s public relations director.

Walton has sat out nine games because of the injury, which occurred in a Jan. 26 game when he stepped on the foot of teammate Andrew Bynum.

Feeling no pain recently when he walked around, Walton decided to try running around and cutting.

That’s when the pain returned.

“It’s frustrating,” he said. “You’re thinking, ‘If I can walk pain-free, why can’t I make basketball moves?’ Now we are going to shut it down for a week and then take another look at it.”

With the All-Star break this weekend, the Lakers play only twice this week and then do not return to the court until Feb. 21 for a home game against the Portland Trail Blazers.

As far as Lakers Coach Phil Jackson is concerned, Walton, who is averaging 11.7 points, 4.9 rebounds and 4.2 assists, can’t return soon enough.

“We don’t have a whole lot of unselfish ballplayers,” Jackson said. “He is one of the guys that I think everybody knows is going to pass the ball to the open man, hit a cutter and is looking to be a playmaker out there. You miss that aspect.”

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This was not the way the Lakers envisioned this season going for Bynum, the 19-year-old center. With Chris Mihm and Kwame Brown playing ahead of him and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar at his side to mentor him, the 7-foot, 268-pound Bynum was supposed to continue his slow but steady development.

Instead, with Brown out indefinitely because of a sprained ankle and Mihm having missed all season following ankle surgery, the heavy load falls on Bynum, who has struggled to be consistent.

With 30 games to go for someone who never played that many games in a high school season and never played collegiate ball, is Jackson concerned?

“We are happy for his opportunity,” said the coach, who has questioned Bynum’s worth ethic in the past. “We’re disappointed that he has so much responsibility. As a 19-year-old kid, he has to go out there every day and hold down the middle of the court, and defensively be a stopper and rebounder and shot blocker, let alone get his offense going. Everything we get from him is a positive.”

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Jackson allowed Kobe Bryant, who played more than 40 minutes in five of his last seven games, to sit out practice Monday.

TONIGHT

vs. New York, 7:30, FSN West

Site -- Staples Center.

Radio -- 570, 1330.

Records -- Lakers 30-22, Knicks 22-29.

Record vs. Knicks -- 0-1.

Update -- The Lakers are hoping to put their 3-5 trip behind them, but the mere sight of the Knicks will revive the bad memories. Their recent trip began in New York without Kobe Bryant, suspended for that game for what was deemed by the league to be an unacceptable elbow to the face of the San Antonio Spurs’ Manu Ginobili. Without him, the Lakers lost to the Knicks, 99-94.

steve.springer@latimes.com