Los Angeles Lakers forward Xavier Henry, right, dunks as New York Knicks guard Iman Shumpert defends during the first half of an NBA basketball game, Tuesday, March 25, 2014, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

MINNEAPOLIS — Xavier Henry will sit out when the Lakers (24-27) play the Minnesota Timberwolves (35-35) tonight at Target CEnter after experiencing more soreness in the bone bruise in his right knee.

He had stayed sidelined for 29 games this season partly because of an abnormal meniscus tear in his right knee, but Henry managed to produce three double-digit outings in his past four appearances. Henry also has played in the past two games nursing a torn ligament in his left wrist, an injury that will require offseason surgery. But Henry sat out the fourth quarter of the Lakers’ 108-105 loss Thursday in Milwaukee after Lakers coach Mike D’Antoni sensed him hobbling more than normal.

“I thought he was laboring a little bit,” D’Antoni said. “It’s tough to know. He’s limping everywhere and is banged up. But he really wants to play.”

The Lakers also will feature Kent Bazemore over Wesley Johnson at small forward. Bazemore has become a more balanced scorer and passer in the past three games, averaging 11.6 points and five assists. Johnson has averaged four points on 33 percent shooting in the previous three contests and has frustrated the team’s coaching staff all season with inconsistent focus. Meanwhile, Lakers guard Steve Nash participated in pre-game warmups in hopes to play. He has missed the past three games because of persisting nerve irritation in his back, an injury that has kept him out in all but 11 games this season.

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Follow L.A. Daily News beat writer Mark Medina on Twitter and on Facebook. E-mail him at mark.medina@langnews.com

Kobe Bryant has missed nearly the entire 2013-14 season. His return to health is key to the Lakers’ immediate future. But it’s anyone’s guess whether he can overcome the latest injuries and be effictive again. Photo by David Crane/Staff Photographer

Kobe Bryant found himself under intense scrutiny, and it had nothing to do with recently criticizing the Lakers’ front office, whether he can heal from a fractured left knee or if he will ever win another NBA championship.

It had everything to do with what Bryant said in a recent profile penned in the New Yorker that included his reasoning on why he did not agree with the Miami Heat taking a team photo where they are all wearing hoodies last year, a form of protest to commemorate 17-year-old Trayvon Martin being shot by George Zimmerman despite remaining unarmed and only wearing a hoodie in his Florida neighborhood.

“I won’t react to something just because I’m supposed to, because I’m an African-American,” Bryant is quoted as saying in the New Yorker piece. “That argument doesn’t make any sense to me. So we want to advance as a society and a culture, but, say, if something happens to an African-American we immediately come to his defense? Yet you want to talk about how far we’ve progressed as a society? Well, we’ve progressed as a society, then don’t jump to somebody’s defense just because they’re African-American. You sit and you listen to the facts just like you would in any other situation, right? So I won’t assert myself.”

Bryant’s comments immediately sparked criticism on social media for the apparent insincerity surrounding Martin’s case and the racial components that may have led toward becoming a wrongful death. Civil rights activist Najee Ali, director of Project Islamic H.O.P.E., said in a statement that the public should boycott any Bryant-related merchandise and endorsements.

Two days after Zimmerman was acquitted of murder charges, however, Bryant posted on his Instagram account disgust with the verdict by quoting civil rights activist Frederick Douglass.

“Where justice is denied, where poverty is enforced, where ignorance prevails,” Douglass once wrote, “and where any one class is made to feel that society is an organized conspiracy to oppress, rob and degrade them, neither persons nor property will be safe.”

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MILWAUKEE — Chris Kaman did not travel with the Lakers to Milwaukee because of personal reasons, but he is scheduled to take a commercial flight to join the team in hopes that he is available for tonight’s game against the Bucks (13-58).

Kaman was slated to start at center because Pau Gasol did not make the trip because of continuous symptoms with vertigo. But the Lakers will likely start a frontcourt that features Jordan Hill and Ryan Kelly.

Kaman acknowledged recently that he has experienced the most frustrating season of his 11-year career for reasons that include the Lakers’ 24-46 record, their persistent injuries and his diminished role. Kaman posted 13 points on 5 of 10 shooting in the Lakers’ 127-96 victory Tuesday over the New York Knicks at Staples Center, but that marked his first appearance in the previous 10 games.

Kaman had been hobbled by a sore right foot, but his 35 appearances this season mostly traces toward becoming a casualty in Mike D’Antoni’s rotation. D’Antoni has routinely shown preference for stretch forwards and has said both Hill and Robert Sacre play better defensively than Kaman. Kaman, who signed a mini mid-level exception last offseason worth $3.2 million, has posted 10 points and 5.7 rebounds. Through nine starts, Kaman has also averaged 13.9 points on 46.5 percent shooting.

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Follow L.A. Daily News Lakers beat writer Mark Medina on Twitter and on Facebook. E-mail him at mark.medina@langnews.com

Former UCLA and Lakers great Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, spinning a basketball while visiting children last year in the Alemao complex slum in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, is interested in joining part of a future Milwaukee Bucks ownership group. (Victor R. Caivano/The Associated Press)

Nearly everyone around the Lakers remain optimistic that Kobe Bryant will return to full form next season.

Well, almost.

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar sounded pretty skeptical in a wide-ranging interview with this newspaper that Bryant will come close toward surpassing his NBA all-time leading scorer mark (38,387 points). The reasons go beyond Bryant ranking fourth overall with 31,700 points, trailing Abdul-Jabbar’s mark by 6,687 points and needing to average at least 40.7 points presuming he plays all 82 games through the 2015-16 season and retires in what would mark a 20-year career with the Lakers.

“It’s going to be tough. The problem for him is if he’s going to break the record, he would have be the focus of the offense,” Abdul-Jabbar said. “His body is breaking down. It’s tough. Why would these guys want to play that long? They make so much money? I wouldn’t play that long.”
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