Los Angeles Lakers guard Kobe Bryant has a torn wrist ligament and did not play in Wednesday night's 108-103 loss against the Los Angeles Clippers.
The Lakers have listed Bryant's status as day to day.
"It was mine and Kobe's and the doctor's decision to sit him tonight, but if tonight was a playoff game, maybe [he could play]," coach Mike Brown said during his pregame remarks. "It's a preseason game."
Jason Kapono started at shooting guard in Bryant's place.
Bryant suffered the right wrist injury, his shooting hand, in the Lakers' 114-95 loss to the Clippers on Monday when he fell to the floor in the third quarter after having his shot attempt blocked by DeAndre Jordan.
Bryant was examined by Dr. Steven Shin of the Kerlan-Jobe Orthopaedic Clinic and underwent an MRI exam on Wednesday.
Results show that Bryant has a torn lunotriquetral ligament. The lunotriquetral ligament is a band of tissue that connects bones in the wrist.
"These are tiny little ligaments that keep the multiple bones in your wrist together so that you have movement as well as stability," Dr. Robert Klapper, an orthopaedic surgeon at Cedars-Sinai Medical Group, told 710 ESPN Los Angeles' "Max & Marcellus Show."
The Lakers opening game is just four days away against the Chicago Bulls on Christmas Day.
"I can't speak to Sunday," Brown said after the team's morning shootaround. "He may practice [Thursday], he may not. I'll have a better feel soon."
Added Brown before the game: "Come Sunday, we'll see how it is. ... There's a chance he can play Sunday."
Bryant was on the floor and wearing a plastic protective brace on his wrist before Wednesday's game. He declined comment when asked about his availability for the season opener. Bryant said he didn't know if the wrist was experiencing any swelling because it was covered up by the brace all day.
The Lakers will already be missing one starter against the Bulls, as center Andrew Bynum is suspended for the first five games of the season because of a hit he made on J.J. Barea in Game 4 of the Western Conference semifinals last spring.
Bryant practiced with the injury on Tuesday but did not participate in Wednesday's shootaround after continuing to experience pain on the top portion of his hand.
