Cook sprains ankle during scrimmage
Just when they thought their sagging fortunes might be looking up, down goes another Laker.
With Lamar Odom (torn labrum in his left shoulder) and Luke Walton (sprained ankle) expected to return to the lineup for Thursday’s game against the Nuggets in Denver, and Ronny Turiaf reporting that the spasms are gone from his back, the Lakers were hit with yet another injury Tuesday.
Forward Brian Cook suffered a moderate sprain of his left ankle in practice at the Lakers’ El Segundo training headquarters and is listed as “doubtful” for Thursday.
“It’s out of control right now,” Walton said. “Every time someone gets healthy, someone else goes down.”
Cook was hurt while completing a fast break during a scrimmage.
“He was making a layup,” Walton said. “When I got the rebound, I saw he was laying down [on the court]. I stepped out of the way.”
Coach Phil Jackson refused to indulge in self-pity.
“Those things happen,” he said. “You just can’t complain about it. You just have to go forward. That’s the way it is in this game. You want to have 12 guys available. It doesn’t look like it’s going to work out that way for us for a while.”
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Kwame Brown will replace Andrew Bynum at center in Thursday’s starting lineup. Unhappy with Bynum’s inconsistency, Jackson had been planning to make the switch for last Sunday’s game against the Dallas Mavericks but decided not to reward Brown after he showed up late for the team’s shoot around.
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