Kobe says the lesson for Nick Young after thumb injury “don’t reach”

Lakers guard Nick Young suffered a complete tear of the radial collateral ligament in his right thumb during practice and could be sidelined for the start of the regular season. Young is having surgery on Monday and is expected to miss six to eight weeks.

Kobe commented on the loss of Nick during Lakers practice on Saturday during his interview with NBA TV’s Reggie Miller and Rick Fox:

Young injured his thumb guarding Kobe in practice. He was attempting to swipe the ball and got caught. Kobe joked on NBA TV that this should be a lesson to young ballers to move their feet on defense. “You reach and you’re going to get hurt” you can check that out starting at 3:28.

You have to love the fact that the Lakers just loss a hefty dose of their bench scoring and Kobe is still talking sh*t. That’s why it takes a certain caliber of guy to play with him. Not everybody wants to be subjected to that.

Other training camp notes:

• Byron Scott has been focusing on conditioning and defense in the early part of the camp.
• Kobe is beating his teammates in speed drills… How do you feel that your 36 year old superstar is beating younger guys?
• After seven practices, Kobe said both his knee and achilles feel fine.
• Kobe says players now have better information on nutrition, hydration and rest to extend their careers. If their committed to it.