Kobe Bryant left the first quarter of the Los Angeles Lakers at Oklahoma City Thunder game after hurting his elbow, and he officially has an ulnar nerve contusion to his right elbow, via Kevin Ding. He returned to the bench and immediately checked in just minutes after going to the locker room with Lakers athletic trainer Gary Vitti to diagnose the injury he had suffered.

Earlier in the season Bryant revealed that he had not only sprained his right elbow, but was also playing through tendinitis in it.

Ulnar nerve contusions cause numbess and tingling in fingers, sharp pains from the elbow down to the hand, swelling in the elbow, and tenderness of the inner elbow. It is not an injury that commonly requires surgery, though anti-inflammatory and pain medication is suggested, along with icing to treat the injury, via Washington Orthopaedics and Medicine.

- Drew

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