He looked just fine.
Bryant had 31 points, seven rebounds and eight assists while playing with a clear mask over his broken nose, and the Lakers returned from the All-Star break with their 17th consecutive win over the Timberwolves, 104-85.
Dr. Vern Williams said Bryant "passed all the tests with flying colors." With less than an hour to go before the 10:30 p.m. ET tipoff, Bryant was getting his ankles taped and he was getting set to wear the mask specially designed for him to protect his nose.
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Minnesota Timberwolves forward Kevin Love, however, did not play because of flu-like symptoms.
Bryant tried out the mask during pregame shootaround and apparently liked it. Bryant hit his first two jumpers in the opening minutes and finished the first quarter with 10 points, showing no limitations.
Bryant also received several brief massages from the Lakers' physical therapist on the bench, both before and after scoring 12 points in the third quarter while Los Angeles pulled away. The huge lead allowed Bryant to sit out much of the fourth quarter.
Los Angeles led by 15 in the first quarter, but Minnesota got back within 50-44 at halftime. The Lakers gradually took control while outscoring the Wolves 33-15 in the third quarter, led by Bryant's scoring and Gasol's 10 points after a quiet first half.
Bryant, who also broke his nose on Miami Heat guard Dwyane Wade's hard foul in Sunday's NBA All-Star Game, earlier in the day also saw the neurologist, who then allowed him to play two-on-two. He remained symptom-free up to the point that the neurologist later cleared him.
Bryant said he doesn't blame Wade, his good friend, for the injuries, but he's also not yet comfortable in his Richard Hamilton-style mask, saying it felt like "a sauna on my face."
"It happens," Bryant said. "You just have to deal with it and try to heal up as quickly as you possibly can, and get back on the court."
Bryant was able to play because he passed the various increasingly difficult physical tests by the neurologist as part of the NBA's new return policy from a concussion. The tests: on a bicycle, on a treadmill and what's known as an Axon test ? a baseline test for cognitive function.
"I understand the severity of the situation," Bryant said. "You have to go through those steps. It's part of the job. ? It's definitely different. In that sense, you're pretty helpless. You just have to be patient and hope for the best."
The NBA's leading scorer was fouled, from behind, by Wade in the third quarter of the All-Star game, taking the blow across his shoulders and nose. Bryant didn't talk to reporters after the game, citing headaches and dizziness, but flew back to Los Angeles.
His symptoms Tuesday that sent Bryant from an ear, nose and throat specialist to the neurologist and for an MRI, were nausea and headaches coming more from the medication he was taking than the concussion, the neurologist said.
No hard evidence shows that flying posed any risk to Bryant, according to Kevin Guskiewicz, chair of the department of exercise and sport science at the University of North Carolina, and a concussion expert.
"There's really no good science to suggest you should or should not (fly)," Guskiewicz said. "Certainly, if someone is deteriorating to where their symptoms are significantly worse an hour or two after that event, that might suggest there's something more sereious than a concussion. Then we would certainly keep them overnight ? and have them admitted for observation."
Bryant began the season with a torn ligament in his right (shooting) wrist and has played through it. Despite leading the league in scoring, his 43.5% shooting was his lowest since the 2004-05 season.
In the last seven years, Bryant has missed just 16 total games. He had played in all 34 this season entering Wednesday.
"He's tough as nails and he plays through a lot more things than everybody else probably would," Lakers coach Mike Brown said of Bryant, 33, in his 16th season.
Late in the 2010-11 season, Bryant overcame a twisted left ankle and played in all 82 games. In the offseason, he went to Germany for an experimental surgery on his right knee in hopes of easing pain he had had for a while.
Bryant had surgery on the same knee to remove bone fragments after the 2009-10 season, when the Lakers won their second NBA championship in a row and he was Finals MVP.
Bryant played that season with an index finger broken in two places on his shooting hand and developed arthritis in the middle knuckle.
Now Bryant has to manage a head injury, which Guskiewicz said usually requires a "graduated, return-to-play protocol" after the player has been without symptoms for 24 hours. The older the player, however, presents somewhat of a caveat.
"People tend to be more lenient with the more mature athlete, meaning the older athlete," Guskiewicz said. "Certainly with younger kids, where there's more of a risk for catastrophic outcome or missing something because the brain is not fully developed at age 12, 15, even 17 or 18, we're definitely more careful. That graduated, return-to-play progression is really important there."
Several NBA players have had concussions or concussion-like symptoms this season:
?Milwaukee Bucks center Andrew Bogut missed time in January after falling and hitting the back of his head on the floor.
?Jason Smith, a forward-center for the New Orleans Hornets, hasn't played since Feb. 4 because of a concussion.
?Chicago Bulls reserve guard C.J. Watson, returned this week from a head injury he got from a Feb. 18 collision in the game against the New Jersey Nets.
?Kyrie Irving, a rookie point guard for the Cleveland Cavaliers, missed games earlier this month from a concussion.
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