Kobe Bryant reportedly breaks his nose after taking a hard foul from Dwyane Wade in the third quarter of the 2012 NBA All-Star Game in Orlando, Fla. (ASSOCIATED PRESS)
Kobe Bryant reached a milestone during the 2012 NBA All-Star game in Orlando, Fla. when he passed the great Michael Jordan to become the No. 1 scorer in All-Star game history.
It happened with about five minutes left in the third quarter when Bryant took a pass from Western Conference teammate Kevin Durant near halfcourt and went in for a dunk. It was Bryant’s 264th point in 14 All-Star games, moving him ahead of Jordan who held the record with 262. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is third on the list with 251 and Oscar Robertson is fourth with 246. Bryant finished with 27 points Sunday to increase his total to 271.
But Bryant’s record-setting night was drowned with a some bad news when it was later found that Bryant had fractured his nose and complained of headaches after the game, according to the Los Angeles Times. It’s believed Bryant was injured at the 8:48 mark of the third quarter when he got hammered by Heat star Dwyane Wade while driving to the basket. After making the first of two free throws, Bryant went to the bench to receive medical treatment because blood was dripping from his nose.
Bryant is already nursing a torn ligament in his right wrist and now he has to deal with a nasal fracture, which probably requires a plastic mask (see Rip Hamilton). Knowing Kobe, he’ll ditch the plastic guard and play through the pain.
The injury is the latest in a laundry list of aches and pains for Bryant, who had knee surgery during the offseason and he also had to deal with a torn ligament in his finger two seasons ago. Despite the setbacks, the fifth-leading scorer in NBA history has pulled an Iron Man routine as he has missed just nine games in the past five seasons.
The title of this story made me think Kobe broke Jordan’s nose.