Grant to Delay Surgery

Horace Grant will try to play near the end of the regular season and in the playoffs despite a hip injury that can be repaired only by surgery, Dr. Joseph McCarthy said Friday.

McCarthy, an arthroscopic surgeon at New England Baptist Hospital in Boston, examined Grant on Friday and confirmed a tear in the front of the labrum, an injury, McCarthy said, “that does not generally repair itself.”

If Grant had surgery immediately, he probably would not be able to return for the playoffs. As it is, Grant will rest and rehabilitate the area for the next two or three weeks, the Lakers said, and delay surgery until after the season. By mid-April, the Lakers would have to be able to gauge Grant’s postseason readiness, for the purposes of their playoff roster.

The Lakers put Grant on the injured list. Rookie Brian Cook is eligible to come off the injured list in time for Sunday’s game against the Milwaukee Bucks.

Grant sat out five games from March 3 to March 10 and then played 10 minutes against the Minnesota Timberwolves. The pain returned and Grant has not played since.

“He’s doing somewhat better right now because he hasn’t been as active, so the swelling has gone down,” McCarthy said. “Horace, being the competitor he is, wants desperately to help the Lakers, particularly in the playoffs. He understands it’s a very delicate balance.... But, given the fact his hip has quieted down, he wants to give it a go. [Team physician] Steve Lombardo and I talked about it and thought it was reasonable to give it a try.”

McCarthy said Coach Phil Jackson would have to mind Grant’s minutes and between-game activity, assuming Grant recovers enough even to allow him to play, and that pain management would be an important issue.

The surgery, McCarthy said, is an outpatient procedure. Grant will be allowed on a stationary bike or into a pool almost immediately, and his hip will be able to bear his weight immediately. He also should be through with his recovery by the end of summer.

If Grant, who is 38, were to retire after this season, McCarthy said, it would not be because of his hip.

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Kobe Bryant hopes to play Wednesday against the Sacramento Kings, between pretrial hearings in Eagle, Colo., Jackson said Friday.

Bryant was able to attend a hearing and play the same night once before, against the Denver Nuggets on Dec. 19. He entered the game at the start of the second quarter and finished it with a jump shot that won the game at the buzzer. There was not a hearing scheduled for the next day, however.

Team officials said Bryant’s availability would be contingent on the length of Wednesday’s hearing, though it sounded to Jackson as if Bryant was optimistic.

“He’s going to play,” Jackson said. “That’s his plan, to play. His plan is to leave Colorado and fly back for the ballgame, leave the next morning and go back to Colorado for the second day of the pretrial hearings.”

The Lakers play Minnesota on Friday. If Bryant played in both games, he’d have flown four times and played a basketball game in the two days before the Timberwolves arrived.

“He seems to do all right with a hyperactive type of schedule,” Jackson said. “I’m sure it creates chaos in some form of your life.”