Lakers News: Shutting Down Kobe Bryant for Rest of Season Only Option for L.A.

Get the artillery ready and man your battle stations, because the Los Angeles Lakers are one move away from entering full-tank mode. That one move is shutting down Kobe Bryant for the rest of the 2013-14 season.

Injuries have limited him to just six games this season, with that fractured tibia keeping him out since mid-December. Getting back was always going to be a grueling process for Bryant, and it's been made more difficult by the fact that he's facing a major setback.

Dave McMenamin of ESPN.com reported earlier in the week that he'll be out for a minimum of three more weeks than previously thought:

Lakers guard Kobe Bryant was examined by team physician Dr. Steve Lombardo on Friday, and it was determined the 18-year veteran will be sidelined another three weeks before being re-evaluated because of continued pain, swelling and soreness in his injured left knee.

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Missing three more weeks before another evaluation brings the calendar to March 14, at which point there will be only 17 games left in the regular season for the Lakers. And even if Bryant is cleared for contact drills at that point, he would assuredly need some additional practice time before he could make a return.

Earlier in the season, the idea of getting shut down for the rest of the season was anathema to Kobe. Back in January, he said, via Mark Medina of the Los Angeles Daily News:

“The only thing I can afford to consider is getting better and getting strong,” Bryant said before the Lakers (14-25) played the Celtics (14-26) on Friday at TD Garden. “I can’t allow myself to think any other way. I can only think about the next day. To do anything else becomes distracting. You don’t allow yourself because you give yourself wiggle room not to push yourself as hard as you possibly can. If I think I’m going to sit out, this, that and the other, then the motivation is gone. I ref...

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