Kobe Bryant told head coach Byron Scott he was fine. But it turns out the defiant veteran wasn't.

The Los Angeles Lakers' superstar will undergo an MRI on his right shoulder Thursday after injuring it in Wednesday's 96-80 loss to the New Orleans Pelicans.

Bryant hurt himself on a vintage baseline dunk in the third quarter and pulled himself out of the game temporarily, but returned after a brief stay on the sidelines. Upon re-entering, he started taking shots with his non-shooting hand - to mixed results - but exited the contest shortly before it concluded.

Bryant downplayed the shoulder injury following the contest, but his availability for Friday's game against the San Antonio Spurs should be considered questionable at best.

"I averaged 40 (points) a whole month on a torn labrum," Bryant told reporters after the game.

Bryant scored 14 points on 6-of-14 shooting in 30 minutes, while adding seven rebounds and two assists.

The superstar's 19th season in the NBA has been challenging, to say the least. After being limited to six games last season due to a pair of leg injuries, Scott ran the 36-year-old Bryant out on the court like he was still a spring chicken to start the year.

Bryant averaged 35.5 minutes per game through 27 contests before sitting out three consecutive for rest. Scott later admitted he played Bryant too much and started resting him and scaling back his minutes, something he has stuck to as the calender has flipped to the new year - Bryant has hovered around 30 minutes per game in eight contests since sitting out the three straight in late December.

And Bryant, who has never shied away from letting the world know how good he is, is quite impressed with the work he has put in during limited time on the court.

"The reality is, I’m doing some pretty phenomenal things in 30 minutes," he said. "My body is not that fucked up."

Since the minute restriction and frequent rest began, Bryant - shooting a career-low 37.2 percent from the field - is averaging just 14.6 points per game compared to his season average of 22.6.