Hailey Hurowitz
10/30/12
1A
Coming into basketball this season does not look good for the Lakers. Kobe Bryant one of the team's star guards has persistent bruising and spraining on his right foot that threw his status in Tuesday's opener against the Dallas Mavericks into doubt. Bryant participated in the team shoot-around this afternoon and appears likely to be in the starting five as the Lakers begin their grand experiment with new additions, Steve Nash and Dwight Howard.
Bryant participated in five of the eight Laker preseason games, averaging 20.4 points on 50.0 percent shooting. But with Dwight Howard having played just two preseason games as he recovers from back surgery, the Lakers will have had their complete starting five on the floor together just once ahead of the opener, making the issue of developing team bonding even more difficult.
According to L.A. Times beat reporter Mike Bresnahan, Bryant declared himself 85 percent sure he would play on Tuesday against the Mavericks. That follows a Monday night posting on Bryant's Facebook page in which he said, "Getting stronger, Not sure what it means for Tuesday night just yet but it's much better than it was a week ago when I could barely walk. I hate not practicing. It drives me crazy!"
The Lakers were 0-8 in the preseason, outscored by an average margin of 15.2 points. They will go from L.A. tonight to Portland for Wednesday’s game, and the back-to-back isn’t quite how coach Mike Brown wants to begin the year. But after that, the Lakers play 11 of their next 15 games at home, and have only two back-to-backs in that span.link
http://sports.yahoo.com/news/nba--lakers-unsure-kobe-bryant-will-play-in-opener-29321409.html
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