Kobe Bryant out indefinitely with severe ankle sprain

Kobe Bryant of the Los Angeles Lakers is out indefinitely with a severe ankle sprain he sustained during the final seconds in the Lakers loss to the Atlanta Hawks, via Mark Medina of the L.A. Daily News:

Kobe Bryant is considered out indefinitely after spraining his left ankle in the final seconds of the Lakers’ 96-92 loss Wednesday to the Atlanta Hawks at Philips Arena.

Bryant attempted a baseline jumper only to fall on Dahntay Jones’ foot. Bryant left the game and soon took x-rays that turned out negative. Bryant limped across the locker room with his ankle taped.

Bryant took a shot in the final seconds and feels he was undercut by Dahntay Jones of the Hawks. Jones maintains that he defended the play legally. Either way, Kobe landed awkwardly and sprained his ankle.

After the game Bryant stated that it was the wost injury he had sustained since the 2000 NBA Finals when Jalen Rose undercut him similar to how Jones did when closing out. Kobe said that he "doesn't know" when he will return, or how his ankle will respond to treatment, via Lakers reporter Mike Trudell. Kobe took to Twitter and called the possession "dangerous" and that it should have been a foul-call "period".

Bryant also claimed that it is the officials job to protect the shooters, especially when being undercut, via Medina:

"Officials really need to protect shooters," Bryant said after scoring 31 points albeit on 11 of 33 shooting. "Defensive players can contest shots. But you can’t walk underneath players."

With the Lakers dropping a game on the road to Atlanta, they will look to finish their road trip in Indiana where they face the Pacers on Friday, but it may be without Kobe Bryant.

In the meantime, we'll be doing the Darius Morris struggle face here.

- Drew

- Follow this author on Twitter @DrewGarrisonSBN

More on the Lakers:

• Dwight was dominant defensively against the Orlando Magic
• Pau Gasol may start practicing next week
• Lakers go ice cold in the fourth, Final Score: Hawks 96, Lakers 92
• Better late than never for Dwight Howard and the Lakers
• Better late than never for Dwight Howard and the Lakers

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