INQUIRER Sports

NEW ORLEANS, Louisiana -- Kobe Bryant will play Sunday in the National Basketball Association All-Star Game but the Los Angeles Lakers guard pulled out of a 3-pointer contest after bad news about an injured finger.

Bryant learned Thursday that he has a torn radial collateral ligament and a plate injury at the first joint in the smallest finger of his right hand and doctors have recommended surgery that would bench the superstar for six weeks.

"My current thinking is to give my finger some treatment and rest for a few days and hope I can still continue to compete at a high level after that rest," Bryant said.

"I would prefer to delay any surgical procedure until after our Lakers season and this summer's Olympic Games but this is an injury that myself and the Lakers' medical staff will just have to monitor on a day-to-day basis," Bryant said.

An NBA statement Thursday said Bryant would play for the Western Conference in Sunday's 57th All-Star Game, but will be replaced by German forward Dirk Nowitzki of the Dallas Mavericks in Saturday's Three-point Shootout contest.

Bryant, last year's All-Star Game Most Valuable Player, leads the Western Conference and ranks second in NBA scoring with 28 points a game. His playing time figures to be reduced because of the dislocated pinky.

The Lakers have won four games in a row and are 35-17 at the mid-season All-Star break, challenging Phoenix and New Orleans for the best record in the Western Conference.

Obtaining Spanish star Pau Gasol from Memphis has helped spark Bryant and the Lakers in recent games but the Suns have countered by swinging a trade deal for former Lakers center Shaquille O'Neal.

The diagnosis and Bryant's desire to delay surgery until after the Lakers are done with the NBA campaign could mean trouble for Bryant's Olympic bid, either surgery before the Games or dealing with the pain while at Beijing.

Bryant figures to be one of the key point producers for the US team as the Americans try to bounce back from a humbling third-place finish at the 2004 Athens Olympics when they play at the Beijing Olympics in August.

Nowitzki, who won the 3-point event in 2006, will compete alongside reigning champion Jason Kapono of Toronto, Cleveland's Daniel Gibson, Detroit's Richard Hamilton, Serbian standout and two-time 3-point contest winner Peja Stojakovic of New Orleans and Phoenix guard Steve Nash, a two-time NBA Most Valuable Player from Canada.