Kobe Bryant suffered a concussion and a broken nose after being struck in the face by Dwyane Wade during the 61st NBA All-Star Game, the Los Angeles Lakers announced on Tuesday.
The Lakers said the four-time All-Star MVP was officially diagnosed with a concussion after team doctors examined him on Tuesday.
“Doctor [Vern] Williams’ diagnosis after evaluating Bryant was that in addition to the nasal fracture, Bryant also suffered a concussion in Sunday’s game,” Lakers spokesman John Black said in a news release.
Bryant fractured his nose in the third quarter after taking a forearm in the head from Team East guard Wade. Bryant moved past Michael Jordan to become the leading All-Star game scorer in history in Sunday’s contest, which was won by Bryant’s Team West.
The Lakers said the 33-year-old Bryant was questionable for yesterday’s game against Minnesota.
Wade said he apologized to Bryant during the All-Star Game after seeing he had drawn blood with a hard foul against the Los Angeles Lakers’ star.
Wade says he also sent Bryant a message, saying he did not intend to cause injury.
Wade spoke about the issue for several minutes after Miami practiced on Tuesday, saying it was not intentional and “unfortunate.” He also said he never tries to intentionally injure another player.
The Heat will close a looming three-game road trip in Los Angeles against the Lakers on Sunday.
Wade said critics who questioned why he never offered an apology for the play — the likes of which seemed to be something not typical in an All-Star Game setting — simply made incorrect assumptions.
“I don’t care what I’m portrayed as,” Wade said after Miami’s first practice following the All-Star break. “It’s unfortunate, obviously. I don’t want to ever hurt anybody in this game, especially on a freak play like that. It’s unfortunate. I send my apologies, but it’s not intentional. If it’s something I did intentionally, it’d be a different story.”
Wade apparently was ready to put the All-Star Game behind him and said he was done discussing the issue after Tuesday. However, it’s almost certain to come up again when the Heat head out to face Bryant and the Lakers over the weekend.
“When I saw the blood in his nose, I was like, ‘Obviously, I wasn’t trying to do that, man,’” Wade said. “I don’t know if anybody wants me to get down on my knees in front of the world and do it. I don’t have to do that ... I send my apologies to Kobe and I move on from it.”
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