NBA Playoffs 2011: Lakers Defeat Hornets 98-80, Will Beat Mavericks Next

Phew!  Finally.  Lakers dispatch New Orleans.  But before we look at game six, let’s not forget the crazy that was game five, or as I call it, “The Game of the Unknown Ankle.”

Holy smokes Mamba!  Talk about (re)-announcing your presence with authority!  Those were two awesome dunks.  Was his ankle really not that bad?  Or is it secretly held together MacGyver-like with duct tape and chewing gum?  We’ll never know.  The Lakers will never tell us.  Kobe will never tell us.  For now. 

Maybe in the future we’ll find out. Sometimes Kobe surprises everybody after the fact by actually explaining what he was doing.  Exhibit A is the postgame press conferences after last year’s title and subsequent stories about how bad his knee and finger really were last year. 

With those dunks, was he sending a message to his teammates?  Yes.  Was he sending a message to Emeka Okafor?  Yes.  Was he sending a message to Chris Paul?  Yes.  Was he sending a message to all the Hornets?  Yes. Was he sending a message to the Phil Jackson?  Yes.  Was he sending a message to #MichaelJordanisthebestever? Yes.  (It’s possible I made up that hashtag.  Maybe.)

But, that’s just Kobe being Kobe.  Only he can get away with refusing an MRI and X-rays (and blame it on the 405 traffic!). It either means he knew the ankle injury was more severe than he was letting on or he didn't want to find out.  Maybe a combo of both. 

Only a player of his status can get away with that.  Can you imagine if Mark Sanchez refused treatment like that?  The Jets trainers would be like, Get your @$$ on the table Nacho.

Sometimes I think even if Kobe sustained an open fracture, he’d yell for somebody to get some dirt to rub on it and find an Ace bandage and...

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