The Los Angeles Lakers have climbed back into the thick of the Western Conference playoff race behind the stellar play of future Hall of Famer Kobe Bryant.
As fate would have it, the Lakers lost a step in the playoff race on Wednesday night against the Atlanta Hawks and might have lost their best player to a left ankle injury in the process.
According to Lakers reporter Mike Trudell, things aren't looking good on Kobe's ankle—and that's directly out of the horse's mouth:
According to Yahoo! Sports' Adrian Wojnarowski, Bryant underwent an X-ray after rolling his ankle during L.A.'s 96-92 loss to the Hawks and was seen limping through the locker room with a wrap on the injured area:
Mike Bresnahan is reporting that Bryant's X-rays were negative, and his status is currently listed as "out indefinitely":
With the Lakers trailing in the waning seconds against Atlanta, Bryant rose up for a game-tying jumper over Dahntay Jones only to miss the shot and land his left ankle on top of Jones' foot.
He stayed on the court for several minutes after incurring the injury, and eventually left the court under his own power after an extensive talk with team doctor Gary Vitti as teammates huddled around the fallen star.
The injury ruined what was yet another stellar game for the ageless wonder (game-high 31 points, seven rebounds and five assists) while the loss drops the Lakers to 34-32—still a half-game ahead of the Utah Jazz for the No. 8 spot in the West.
Just when the Lakers were starting to make a push that forced the prevailing opinion that LA might still be a title team, a disaster like this has the potential to crush any such talk over a critical juncture in LA's season.
If Bryant were to miss any considerable time, it would put a huge damper on any chance Los Angeles has in climbing back up the West's playoff ladder—and claiming the No. 8 seed over Utah, Dallas and Portland, at that.
It's worth noting that the Black Mamba is one of the toughest players in league history, and has refused to let injuries seal his fate in the past. He played with a protective mask after a nose injury about this time last season (via the Los Angeles Times), not to mention battling other more significant maladies (knee, wrist, fingers) in the past.
Kobe is no-doubt a warrior, but as we've seen in the NBA over the past few seasons, a healthy ankle can be the difference in a 20-point per game scorer and just an average NBA athlete.
Bryant is currently averaging 27.4 points per game, good for third in the league behind Carmelo Anthony and Kevin Durant.
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