Kobe Bryant: Too Proud to Sit?

In the second quarter of the Laker's win over the Timberwolves on Friday night, their 11th in a row, Kobe Bryant broke the index finger on his right hand reaching for a pass that was tipped by defender Corey Brewer. After playing most of the rest of the first half predominantly left-handed, Bryant went to the locker room to get x-rays.

After the x-rays revealed that Bryant had an avulsion fracture, essentially where a piece of the bone becomes dislodged near a ligament or a tendon, he simply put a splint on his finger and played the second half, again taking more shots than normal with his left hand.

The following night, the Lakers dropped a game for the first time in nearly a month, losing to the Jazz in Utah 102-94. On top of playing with the fractured finger on his shooting hand, Kobe was battling a stomach bug. He was injected with IVs both before the game and during halftime.

And while Kobe's decision to play can be considered "gritty," his performance Saturday night was anything but. He finished with a season-low 16 points (a full 12 points below his average) on just 7-of-24 shooting in the loss.

After the game, Phil Jackson said of Bryant, "I just don't think he had the energy."

Which begs the question: why let him play?

By now, we all know what kind of player Kobe Bryant is. He's a warrior, for a lack of a better term. He's been playing for two-plus seasons with a pinky on his right hand that is damaged to the point that it needs surgery to be repaired, only Kobe refuses to undergo the procedure because he doesn't want to sit for the six weeks or so that it would take to recover.

Kobe hasn't missed a game since suffering the injured pinky, a stretch that includes two full NBA seasons, two trips to the NBA Finals, and a stint with Team USA in the Olympics.

We've seen Kobe play left-handed after dislocating his right shoulder in a game. We've seen him play through finger injuries, shoulder injuries, ankle injuries, and groin injuries. We've seen him play through the flu plenty of times.

All the while, Kobe continues to put up great numbers game in and game out, injured or not.

And that's the problem.

If you're Phil Jackson, or one of Kobe's teammates, you expect him to go out and be the greatest player on the planet every time you take the floor, regardless of how his body feels. He's given us no reason not to expect that over the past few seasons.

But at what point does someone have to step in and say "enough is enough?"

The Lakers have already proven that they are head and shoulders better than every other team in the Western Conference this season. This isn't the 2006 team that needs Kobe to go out and carry them on his back every single night. For as great as he is, if you took Kobe off the Lakers, they are still a 50-win team. They can afford to play a few games without him.

I understand that Kobe is a fierce competitor, but there isn't someone in that organization that has a good enough rapport with Kobe to pull him aside and say, "Look, you're less than 24 hours removed from breaking the index finger on your shooting hand and you're sick as a dog, we're gonna sit you out tonight. It's what's best for you and the team."

Selfishly, I love the fact that Kobe never takes a night off. I've made it clear every chance I've gotten over the past three years that I love watching Kobe play, I think he's by far the best player in the league, and you'll never convince me otherwise.

Again, selfishly, I'm glad Kobe isn't taking time off for this most recent injury. The Lakers make their one and only trip to Detroit on Sunday, and you better believe that I already have my tickets. "Disappointed" would be understating how I'd feel if Kobe didn't play in that game. "Devastated" would be overstating it. But I'd be a lot closer to the latter if he chose to sit the Piston game out.

But, putting my personal interests aside, there is no reason for Kobe Bryant to play on the Lakers' current five-game road trip.

Already this season, he's had a groin injury, an ankle injury, and now the broken finger. He's played more games than any other player in NBA history over the course of the past two and a quarter seasons (if you count the playoffs and the Olympics).

He's 31-years-old, and his odometer already reads 970 regular season games and 175 playoff games.

At some point "playing through it" all the time is going to catch up to Bryant, and that opens the door for an injury-plagued, reputation-tarnishing, end to an otherwise legendary NBA career.

If only getting to watch Kobe play 70 times per season means that he can stretch his career out by another season or two, then I'm all for it.

The Lakers are headed for another 100+ game season right now. It would be their third in a row. Kobe hasn't missed a game in that stretch. I don't care how great Bryant takes care of his body, that's a recipe for disaster.

The smart move is to shut it down for a week or two, let the nagging injuries heal, and get geared back up for another run at the NBA title.

But, for better or for worse, Kobe isn't wired that way. He's not taking any time off. I know it, you know it, and Phil Jackson and the Lakers organization knows it.

Kobe's either going to figure out a way to shoot with the splint on his finger or figure out a way to score more using his left-hand. Either way, I can assure you that he will not be held to 16 points again on this road trip.

And for as strongly as I feel about the fact that Kobe should not be playing right now, the possibility that one day I could be telling my grandkids, "I was there the night Kobe scored 30 left-handed against the Pistons" has me downright giddy.

That's the beauty of watching greatness. The future doesn't matter; you just have to enjoy it while it lasts.

One day Kobe's body is going to give out, and that day gets closer and closer every time he plays through a nagging injury or risks his health by putting off surgeries.

And as disappointing as the day Kobe's body says "No More" is going to be, I can just think, "It was all worth it."