An injured Kobe Bryant is doing all he can to be able to play in Thursday night's Lakers contest against the Golden State Warriors. The game is on the Warriors' home court, and despite the two teams never really engaging in a serious rivalry during Bryant's time in the league, the home team will honor Kobe during the nationally televised game. [ Follow Dunks Don't Lie on Tumblr: The best slams from all of basketball ] That honor will include a message from Warriors front office consultant Jerry West, also a former Laker champion who was the general manager of the team when it acquired Kobe Bryant all the way back in 1996. West locked in on Bryant early on in the draft process, despite having no lottery picks to work with. He cannily moved up in the draft by dealing Vlade Divac to Charlotte in exchange for the draft rights to Kobe – later adding legend to legendary by using some of the cap space acquired by dealing Divac to sign free agent Shaquille O'Neal. The Warriors general manager at the time, Dave Twardzik, will not be involved in the ceremony. Neither will former NBA center Todd Fuller, both for obvious reasons. Fuller was selected by Twardzik and Golden State 11th...