Mike Brown admits overplaying Kobe as he reaggrivates foot, will wear walking boot
LOS ANGELES -- Kobe Bryant scored a game-high 40 points in the Los Angeles Lakers' 105-95 loss to the Los Angeles Clippers on Friday, but the scoring outburst might have come at a cost.
Bryant said he was playing on one leg and told reporters in the locker room after the game that he felt like his right foot was "about to fall off" during the game.
Bryant missed a week's worth of practice and the final two preseason games while he recovered from a right foot injury that Bryant characterized as an ankle contusion that also irritated the tendon that runs along the bottom of his foot.
The 17-year veteran asked a locker room attendant to have longtime Lakers trainer Gary Vitti to get his walking boot ready for him so he could wear it when he left the arena.
Compounding things was the fact that Bryant played a game-high 43 minutes. Lakers coach Mike Brown admitted to overusing the 34-year-old Bryant.
"We need a win, obviously. I'm not trying to fool anybody here. We do need a win. You hope we could have gotten one tonight," Brown said. "That's part of why (Bryant) played the minutes that he played, which was too many."