Los Angeles Lakers guard Kobe Bryant (24) drives against New Orleans Pelicans guard Nate Wolters, right, during the first half of an NBA basketball game, Wednesday, Jan. 21, 2015, in New Orleans. (AP Photo/Jonathan Bachman)
SAN ANTONIO — The topic of conversation surrounding the Lakers seemed pretty obvious.
How does Kobe Bryant’s right shoulder feel a day after feeling soreness in the Lakers’ 96-80 loss on Wednesday to the New Orleans Pelicans? The only problem: the Lakers do not have many answers. Bryant missed the Lakers’ practice at AT&T Center on Thursday so he could take an MRI on his sore right shoulder.
Lakers coach Byron Scott hardly wanted to outline contingency plans on how to handle Bryant until he knows the results. But Scott sounded skeptical when asked if there is any scenario Bryant could play when the Lakers (12-31) visit the San Antonio Spurs (27-16) on Friday at AT&T Center.
“Not that I can think of, to be honest with you,” Scott said. “I’m just going back on what I saw last night when I put him back in. He couldn’t even lift that arm up. I don’t know the type of strength he has in that arm. But again I’m not jumping the gun or counting him or anything.”
The Lakers will likely have the results available later on Thursday. But Scott reported that Bryant provided an optimistic report when they talked on the phone earlier in the day.
“He said he feels pretty good,” Scott said of Bryant. “That’s just on the phone. I can’t see facial. I can just listen.But he sounded great. We’ll see how he feels when it’s all said and done.”
Yet, Scott conceded he takes Bryant’s optimism with a “very big jar of salt.”
Bryant generally dismissed his shoulder injury that happened after throwing down a baseline dunk in the third quarter over New Orlean’s Dante Cunningham.
“I felt fine when I went up, didn’t feel too good when I came down,” Bryant said. He added the shoulder “came out a little bit,” but dismissed the pain as only “a little achy.”
Bryant noted he had played through torn labrums earlier in his 19-year NBA career, not to mention various other injuries. Although Bryant admitted uncertainty on his playing status, he expressed optimism he would not stay sidelined long. Despite Scott’s recent quest to rest him in eight of the past 16 games at no more than 32 minutes, Bryant maintained he felt healthy enough to play in every contest.
So much that Bryant told Lakers trainer Gary Vitti and Scott that his shoulder felt strong after spending time on the bench icing it. But once Bryant entered the game with five minutes left in the fourth quarter, he appeared noticeably limited. Bryant dribbled and passed mostly using his left hand. He also airballed a left-handed hook shot.
“I believe him. But like he said, he’s leaving it up to me,” Scott said. “There’s days where he says I feel good and I know he really doesn’t [feel well]. I know he wants to play and how competitive he is. Then he’ll come out later and say my body hurts. If it’s me taking a hit for sitting him on certain games because I know he’s not all the way there from a physical standpoint, then so be it.”
So how will Scott respond if Bryant insists later today that he feels good enough to play despite the MRI results suggesting otherwise?
“The one side of me is if he says it’s still hurt and I can still play, it’s telling me that’s not good enough,” Scott said. “Let’s shut it down for this game and let’s see how you feel Sunday [against Houston]. The other side is we had a plan to play him tomorrow night and let’s stick with the plan. The better part of me is I’ll say no. I’m not going to play you tomorrow if you’re still hurt. If it’s a sprain and I know you can play, it’s not worth it.”
Soon enough, Scott couldn’t really provide many more answers. He appeared understandably eager to get on the team bus and meet with Bryant and Vitti soon.
“We just got to wait for the results first,” Scott said, “and then formulate a plan.”
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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