WBRZ - Baton Rouge

ATLANTA - The Lakers are hoping Kobe Bryant's recovery time is quick after the All-Star guard went down with a severe ankle sprain in last night's loss to Atlanta.

Bryant called it the worst sprain of his 16-year NBA career. X-rays were negative but he's out indefinitely.

That's not good news for the Lakers who have crawled out of an early-season funk to slip into the final playoff spot in the Western Conference. They hold down that eighth spot by a half game over Utah with 16 games left in the regular season.