Kobe Bryant to play season without pinkie

September 22, 12:36 PMLos Angeles Lakers ExaminerColin Ward-Henninger

Next

1 comment Print Email RSS Subscribe

Subscribe

Get alerts when there is a new article from the Los Angeles Lakers Examiner. Read Examiner.com's terms of use.

Email Address   Include other special offers from Examiner.com Terms of Use

Who needs a pinkie anyway? Kobe Bryant announced via his website, kb24.com, that he will not have surgery to repair damaged ligaments in his right pinkie finger. Instead Kobe will report to training camp as scheduled and play the entire 2008-09 season with four fingers on his shooting hand, almost making it fair for the players assigned to guard him.

This is nothing new, though. Kobe has been playing with his pinkie taped to his ring finger since February. Since then all he has done is lead the Lakers on an improbable run to the NBA Finals and lead the Redeem Team to Beijing Gold. It seems as if having no pinkie hasn't hindered Kobe at all. If anything, it's made him stronger. And are we really surprised?

Think about it; what does a pinkie finger actually do? Oh no, Kobe won't be able to hit the semi-colon on the keyboard! How will he create a pause between two independent clauses? I guess there could also be a dropoff in morale since Kobe will no longer be able to entertain his teammates with his Dr. Evil impression.

Seriously, the pinkie finger is useless. It's obviously not affecting Kobe's game, so I commend him for opting out of surgery. The Lakers have a chance to be the best team in the NBA this season (assuming the healthy return of Andrew Bynum), and it would be silly for their best player (and the reigning MVP) to miss 12 weeks so that he can repair an utterly pointless finger.