Bryant’s injury to be evaluated

LOS ANGELES — Kobe Bryant’s torn right rotator cuff will be re-examined Monday before the Los Angeles Lakers decide whether the superstar guard needs potentially season-ending surgery.

Bryant was examined Friday in Los Angeles after he tore his rotator cuff Wednesday in New Orleans.

A completely torn rotator cuff typically requires surgery and several months of rehabilitation, which means Bryant’s 19th NBA season could be over. Bryant’s previous two seasons also ended early because of injuries.

A partial tear sometimes can be managed while an athlete continues to play, but the Lakers have declined to specify the severity of Bryant’s tear.

Yet it’s clear that Bryant, 36, has a major injury for the third consecutive season, his resilient body finally wearing down from the accumulated grind of nearly two decades with the Lakers and numerous long postseason runs.

He tore his Achilles tendon in April 2013, and he played six games last season before breaking his left leg.

“He’s one of the toughest guys I’ve ever been around as far as dealing with injuries and things like that and being able to come back,” Coach Byron Scott said Friday after the Lakers’ morning shootaround in San Antonio.

“Knowing him the way I know him, I know he doesn’t want to go out this way. I think he will rehab it if that’s the case, and then we’ll wait and see.”

Team physician Steve Lombardo confirmed the initial diagnosis and discussed treatment options with Bryant on Friday. Bryant will be examined again by Neal ElAttrache of the Kerlan Jobe Orthopaedic Clinic on Monday, and they’ll decide whether Bryant should have surgery.

Bryant joked about the injury on his Twitter account Friday: “This is what happens when I pass too much!”

Bryant was injured on a dunk in the Lakers’ loss to the Pelicans. He traveled home before the Lakers played at San Antonio on Friday night.