You ever broken a bone? Hurts don't it. You play basketball? How important is the index finger on your shooting hand. Kobe has a broken bone on the extensor side of this finger meaning any bending of the finger will bring pain. Meanwhile, he played with it yesterday meaning he aggravated the injury and today it is probably the size of a grape. Hmmmm.
Can he play effectively with this injury? Maybe. Two things though, one is the injury if left untreated can lead to a condition called mallet finger, which would involve a permanent deformity to the finger. I am not sure if Kobe has enough of an injury to cause this but it is possible and it would put him on the shelf for 6-10 weeks. They may reevaluate him today and place him in a splint and on the IR. It is possible. Trust me , it is possible. Two, even if he does play, this is not the pinky on the non-dominant hand, it is the most important finger on the shooting hand and should cause him some trouble. Can he shoot L handed? Sure, he is the greatest alive (save one) but will it compromise his play? To me it will. Who the hell wants to shoot with their off hand all day. Furthermore, if he is shooting L handed maybe the NBA players will take away his left and make him go right. No guarantee there, it is the NBA.
Taking the Jazz, Lakers have to go on the road and they may be with a Kobe that is less than 100% or possibly without Kobe. They have not been good on the road this year. Figure the game is handicapped like Kobe is healthy and maybe I get a little edge.
3 units on a 1-10 scale for me.
Crash
GLA-