With the the Lakers emerging as contenders, the star decides to play through a finger injury

The Salt Lake Tribune

Go ahead, call Kobe Bryant selfish. Call him arrogant and self-centered. Call him a fool for running off Shaq. Call him a diva for his offseason trade demands.

Just don’t call him soft.

Don’t say that the lifetime Los Angeles Laker doesn’t ultimately want to win, and please don’t say he’s not a competitor who’s not willing to play through pain. I say this because of the torn ligaments in his finger, the one on his shooting hand. I say this because the pain that comes along with that is no joke.

Think about it. Even if you tape the finger, which Bryant will do heavily, it’ll still get hit every time he touches the ball. It’ll still get hit on every shot, on every pass, every time a defender reaches and every time he goes to the basket.

That’s a lot of contact to take over 30 games, not counting the playoffs. But the alternative for Kobe is to hang it up for six weeks, take the surgery and hope like heck that the Lakers will still be in the playoff hunt once the finger heals.

In that vein, Bryant has no choice.

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