MILWAUKEE – Jodie Meeks has been a critical role player for the Los Angeles Lakers this season, spacing the floor and providing versatility and durability at the wing position. In Meeks’ mind, he views the Lakers as a long-term fit and believes there’s a solid chance he’ll stay through at least next season’s team option in his contract.

“Yeah, I think so,” Meeks told RealGM when asked if he believes he will be part of the Lakers beyond this season. “You can’t really worry about that right now, just finish out this year. I’ll do that and see whatever happens.”

After playing sparingly under Mike Brown early in the season, Meeks is now averaging 8.1 points on 36.5 percent shooting from three-point range. His best stretch came in Mike D’Antoni’s first full month as head coach, posting 11.1 points per game in December.

“[D’Antoni] gives us a lot of confidence,” Meeks said. “Just playing well, he gives you a lot of freedom, so I’m glad he’s my coach.

“It’s a lot different [than Brown’s system]. Obviously I’ve been playing a lot, but Mike allows me to play well.”

Kobe Bryant has been playing through a bone spur in his left foot for years, all without publicizing the injury and its challenges.

Bryant could have surgery in the offseason to remove the bone spur, but he never did have surgery on the mangled right pinky finger in 2008 or the arthritic right index finger in 2010.

"The thing I'm most proud of is being able to play for so many years and still be playing at a very, very high level," Bryant said. "That's the thing that I'm most proud of."

Bryant tweaked the bone spur in Thursday's Los Angeles Lakers loss to the Milwaukee Bucks.

The Los Angeles Lakers have listed him as probable for Saturday's game against the Sacramento Kings, but Kobe Bryant is expected to play.

He is dealing with a bone spur in his left foot.

Bryant left the Bradley Center using a crutch Thursday following Los Angeles' 113-103 loss to Milwaukee. He has been bothered by the bone spur for several games, and received treatment in Sacramento on Friday.

MILWAUKEE – After the Los Angeles Lakers’ 113-103 loss to the Bucks on Thursday night, Kobe Bryant left the arena on a crutch as he couldn’t place pressure on his left foot, headed to a specialist Friday in Sacramento.

The Lakers won’t fly out to Sacramento until Friday morning and said they’ll provide an update following Bryant’s visit to the specialist after a bone spur in his left foot flared up. Bryant spent extended stretches of the fourth quarter with a wrap around his left foot without his shoe on. With 6:47 left in the fourth as the Lakers called a timeout down three points Thursday, Bryant sat near the end of the bench, removed the wrap on his foot and entered the game.

Bryant led the Lakers with 30 points, but he committed six turnovers and missed all three 3-point attempts. As Marquis Daniels crowded him physically all night, Bryant vented his frustration to the officials throughout the game.

Before opting for one crutch to bring Bryant out of the Bradley Center, the Lakers briefly considered using a wheelchair, two people with knowledge of the injury told RealGM late Thursday night. Bryant sat out two straight games earlier in the week with a severe left ankle sprain.

“Regardless of how [Bryant’s] feeling, he always plays – unless he can’t walk," Jodie Meeks told RealGM after the game. “So he’ll be ready for us.”

One player after another, the Lakers have been decimated by injuries this season, most recently losing Metta World Peace to a torn meniscus in his left knee. Steve Nash also sat out the final 17:13 of Thursday’s game with a right hip injury, but both he and Mike D’Antoni expect him to play on Saturday against the Kings.

Lakers players know they need everyone at this point, and the Utah Jazz are just a half-game behind Los Angeles for the eighth seed in the Western Conference.

“We don’t need anybody else to get injured or be out or miss any games, especially at this point in the year,” Pau Gasol said. “Let’s see what happens. Hopefully Kobe will be healthy for next game.”

The NBA has released a statement that a foul should have been called on Kobe Bryant in the final seconds of the Los Angeles Lakers' 120-117 win over the Minnesota Timberwolves on Wednesday night.

Bryant made contact with Ricky Rubio on a last-second three-point attempt that could have tied the game.

"Video review by the league office confirmed that Kobe Bryant fouled Rubio while Rubio was in his shooting motion," the league said on its website. "Rubio should have been awarded three free throws."

Metta World Peace underwent successful surgery on Thursday for a torn lateral meniscus.

World Peace injured his left knee in Monday night’s game against the Warriors.

The surgery was performed by team doctors Steve Lombardo and Dan Kharrazi of the Kerlan-Jobe Orthopaedic Group in Los Angeles.

World Peace, who has averaged 12.8 points, 5.1 rebounds and 1.70 steals in 70 games (64 starts) this season, is expected to be out a minimum of six weeks.

The NBA has retroactively given David Lee a flagrant 1 foul for hitting Dwight Howard in the face earlier this week.

The Los Angeles Lakers center said it was too little, too late.

"I don't really care," Howard said. "It's late now. There's nothing we can do about it."

After the Golden State Warriors beat the Lakers on Monday night, Howard pledged he'd get revenge against Lee. A few days after he received stitches in his lower lip from the blow, he backtracked a bit.

"I do want to clear it up," Howard said. "I'm not going to do anything stupid the next time we play [the Warriors] to jeopardize myself, to jeopardize the team or jeopardize his career. Even though I felt like the play was dirty, I'm not going to do anything to retaliate but go out there and play hard and do it the right way, which is winning the game and dominating, instead of doing something stupid which could cost me or our team the game."

Jerry West believed that the Miami Heat would at least tie the Los Angeles Lakers' all-time record with 33 straight wins.

West, who was an anchor on L.A.'s historic 1971-72 team and is now a consultant with the Golden State Warriors, reacted after Miami's streak was ended at 27 games on Wednesday night.

"I really thought they were going to do it," West said after the Chicago Bulls topped the Heat.

"It's a remarkable streak. I wasn't rooting against them at all. At halftime [of the Chicago game], I thought they were going to win the game. But all you need sometimes is a few things to go wrong.

"I think they're looking for bigger fish to fry. You know they're trying to win another championship, so I think this is just a blip in the road for them. But this [streak] was great for basketball. It was a great accomplishment. It creates incredible fan interest.

"People will talk about this forever."

Phil Jackson has joined Twitter, according to his fiancée, Jeanie Buss.

"Please welcome Phil Jackson to twitter @PhilJackson11," Buss tweeted Wednesday.

The avatar on the former coach's account is the photograph used as the cover of his upcoming book, "Eleven Rings: The Soul of Success."

The 67-year-old's Twitter account has amassed more than 23,000 followers without him sending out a single tweet.

Pau Gasol will be in the starting lineup for the Los Angeles Lakers against the Minnesota Timberwolves on Wednesday night.

The Lakers are 0-2 since Gasol returned from injury and Ric Bucher reported Wednesday morning that Gasol could be moved to the bench.