It’s official: Kobe Bryant out Tuesday night vs. Spurs

By Kurt HelinApr 17, 2012, 4:09 PM EDT

We told you to expect this but Lakers coach Mike Brown made it official at the Lakers shootaround Tuesday — Kobe Bryant will miss his sixth straight game with a shin injury and will sit out the game against the Spurs, as reported by the Los Angeles Times and other sources.

The rule of thumb the Lakers trainers are using is when he shows he can jump without pain he can come back. While he has practiced with the team he is not where the trainers want him yet.

Kobe said recently he would be back “well before” the playoffs. So, how do you define that, coach Brown?

“With a guy like Kobe, especially, his feel is so great for the game that I think he’ll be able to ease in probably better than most guys,” Brown said, “but for me to sit here and say, ‘He needs five games’ or ‘He needs two games,’ would not be correct. I think it’s just more by feel than anything else.”

That is some quality tap dancing around the issue right there.

This game matters to the Lakers, who are now just one game ahead of the Clippers for the Pacific Division crown and the three seed in the West (the Lakers also have the tiebreaker with the Clippers). The team that wins the Pacific and gets the three seed gets to avoid a dangerous Memphis team in the first round.

The Spurs are on the second game of a back-to-back-to-back Tuesday, but none of their big three played more than 13 minutes in a blowout win against Golden State Monday night. Your guess is as good as mine as to what Gregg Popovich has planned.

“Ray Allen from long distance” with chip shot to save par at American Century Classic

By Kurt HelinJul 15, 2018, 9:00 PM EDT

LeBron James sits courtside for Lakers’ Summer League win

Getty Images

By Kurt HelinJul 15, 2018, 8:56 PM EDT

After losing to his father in golf, Stephen Curry leaps into Lake Tahoe

By Kurt HelinJul 15, 2018, 7:05 PM EDT

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Golf fanatic Stephen Curry was clearly enjoying himself on the links at the American Century Championship celebrity golf event in Lake Tahoe this past weekend.

But he couldn’t beat his father, Dell.

The price? Curry (and his caddy) had to jump in the lake. Check out the video above.

For the record, Tony Romo won the event.

Spurs’ pick Chimezie Metu to miss time with fractured wrist

Associated Press

By Kurt HelinJul 15, 2018, 4:59 PM EDT

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Chimezie Metu showed some promise in the Summer League games he played for San Antonio, scoring 12.5 points a game on 55 percent shooting in Las Vegas, and 10.7 per game on 54 percent shooting in Salt Lake City. The second round pick of the Spurs (No. 49 overall) is raw and needs a lot of development, but he can get buckets. The potential is there.

That development is going to be on hold a while, as what was thought to be a sprained wrist has turned out to be a fracture.

From Tom Osborn of the San Antonio Express-News.

After an examination Saturday, the Spurs medical staff downgraded second-round pick Chimezie Metu’s left wrist injury from a sprain to a fracture, a league source said Saturday.

Metu was injured late in the Spurs’ 95-90 win over Washington on July 8 at the Las Vegas Summer League, when he landed awkwardly after leaping to catch a lob pass at the rim. The 6-foot-10 big man finished the game but was sidelined for the remainder of the schedule.

After undergoing X-rays at the Thomas & Mack Center, Metu was diagnosed with a sprain. But Spurs’ team doctors suspected a possible fracture, which was confirmed after Metu returned to San Antonio on Saturday.

Metu should be good to go by training camp. Metu is hoping his summer and training camp play will earn him a roster spot, although the Spurs tend not to sign second-round picks the year they were drafted (they tend to let them spend a year or two in the G-League or in Europe). A lot of his chances on making the roster depend on any other moves the Spurs make this summer and what their roster looks like come the fall.