The great expectations for the rest of the Lakers' breakthrough season were shaken Thursday with the diagnosis that Kobe Bryant needs surgery on his shooting hand — but he intends to put it off and keep playing.

Bryant, who played the past five games after dislocating his right pinkie finger, has a complete tear of the radial collateral ligament, an avulsion fracture and a volar plate injury at the MCP joint.

Surgery to repair the ligament was recommended by hand specialist Steven Shin, but the procedure would cost Bryant about six weeks.

That would leave the Lakers without him until three weeks remained in the regular season, jeopardizing their chances of simply making the playoffs in the rugged Western Conference. Center Andrew Bynum and forward Trevor Ariza are out until mid-March or later.

Bryant said he will try to manage the injury the rest of the NBA season and through the Aug. 8-24 Olympics.

"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 continue to monitor on a day-to-day basis."

Bryant plans to start the All-Star Game on Sunday, extending his streak of consecutive starts to 10, but likely will not play much. He has been replaced by Dallas' Dirk Nowitzki for the 3-point contest Saturday.

The initial damage occurred Feb. 5 when Bryant dislocated the finger by banging it against New Jersey's Jason Kidd. Bryant said he looked down and noticed the knuckle that attaches the finger to the hand had moved halfway down his hand.

It's possible Bryant could have the surgery between the end of the Lakers season and the Olympics, particularly if the Lakers don't have an extended run.

There are more than seven weeks between the last possible end date of the NBA Finals (June 19) and the first possible Olympic basketball game (Aug. 10). If Bryant has the surgery after the Olympics, he would miss about a week of training camp for the 2008-09 NBA season.