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NBA All-Star Game News: Lakers Trying to Keep Kobe Bryant Out
Kobe Bryant is injured, but is he injured enough to miss the NBA All-Star game? (AP Images)
After learning that Kobe Bryant has a torn ligament in his right pinkie finger, the Los Angeles Lakers are now doing everything in their power to lobby the NBA for Bryant to miss Sunday's contest in New Orleans.
As of now, Bryant has no such clearance. League officials have told Lakers GM Mitch Kupchak that the NBA is not looking for potential replacements for Bryant and they are preparing for him to participate.
This particular All-Star game holds more importance than those of the past. For one, it's being held in New Orleans, a signature event for an area that was ravaged by Hurricane Katrina. Also, the aftermath of the debacle that was the 2007 NBA All-Star game in Las Vegas has left a bad taste in the mouths of fans and, most importantly, David Stern.
ESPN scribe Bill "The Sports Guy" Simmons had this to say about last year's game in Sin City:
Remember those parties in college when a drunk guy inadvertently kicked over the host's bong and spilled bong water onto the rug, only he never cleaned up the resulting mess, so the skunky water festered while the host of the party was passed out? And then, the following morning, the host awakened to a room that smelled like a cross between a stale bong and the seventh circle of hell?
That's what downtown Las Vegas smelled like on Sunday night. After four nights of what will eventually be remembered as the Hip-Hop Woodstock, the atrociously sloppy NBA All-Star Game made complete sense. You can't blame the groggy players for shattering the record of "Most Botched Alley-Oop Passes in a Single Exhibition Game." They were still battling a severe retroactive contact high. Hell, I'm battling it right now.
So, the inclusion of Bryant in this year's game is of significant importance.
Speaking of the All-Star game, the Bodog Sportsbook has odds up. The Rookies are 13-point underdogs to the Sophomores in the Friday Night Challenge.