Unfortunate news reached the Lakers players and coaches Monday when they learned that Kobe Bryant will undergo surgery on his torn right rotator cuff on Wednesday morning.
Bryant, who suffered his injury in the second half against New Orleans on Jan. 21, will have an updated timetable for his return after the operation.
“He sounded good," head coach Byron Scott said. "I probably sounded worse than he did. But like I said, we all know how tough he is, and he’s a trooper. I’ll just pray for him on Wednesday that the surgery is obviously successful and that his return will be sooner than later.”
Bryant missed 76 games last season due to injury and also sat out eight games to rest this year.
Scott — who recently altered the team’s starting lineup by inserting Jordan Clarkson, Wayne Ellington, Ryan Kelly and Robert Sacre — claims that the Lakers need to make adjustments without Bryant available to shoulder the offensive load.
“You got a whole new starting lineup in there now, and they gotta learn to play with each other,” Scott said. “We’ve been talking about making sure we move the ball, because we don’t have that one guy that can dominate a game. We’ve gotta move the ball, and we gotta do it on a collective basis.”
Scott also acknowledged the need for someone to fill Bryant’s role as the team’s leader. Though he said he “can’t appoint a guy,” he did name 13-year veteran Carlos Boozer as a possible substitute.
Boozer, meanwhile, expressed confidence that Bryant will succeed in his return from this injury.
“You guys know Kobe,” Boozer said. “He’s a warrior, plays through everything. The game he got hurt in — he played the last quarter left-handed. That just tells you how tough the guy is. You guys already know, if anybody can come back from this it’s Kobe. He attacks his rehab and is a monster with his work ethic.”
Young Sprains Ankle
During five-on-five scrimmaging at the very end of practice, Nick Young sprained his right ankle when Jordan Clarkson inadvertently landed on it. However, Young plans to play against Washington on Tuesday and will test out his ankle at shootaround beforehand.
Young played just eight minutes in Sunday's game against Houston due to what Scott perceived as a lack of effort.
“The message I was sending last night was basically: ‘You didn’t look like you wanted to play,’” Scott said. ‘You weren’t defending. You were just standing around, throwing the ball all over the place.’ So I chose not to play him, because if you look disinterested with body language and things like that — to me, you don’t want to play.”
Young was held scoreless for the first time since he was still with the Philadelphia 76ers on April 17, 2013.
“It was very frustrating (sitting out),” Young said. “It just brought back some old memories like being a rook, but it happens. I guess (Scott) wants the best for me. I came in today with the mindset (of) not having any negative energy.”