Hoping for a good note from doctor

PHOENIX —  The clipboards and papers toted by the Lakers’ coaches, video coordinators and other assorted team staffers become meaningless for a day.

The only diagrams and charts that will matter to the franchise today are those being studied by shoulder and ankle specialists in Los Angeles. The short-term fates of Lamar Odom and Luke Walton will be determined in doctors’ offices, with the team paying particular attention to a further analysis of the torn labrum in Odom’s left shoulder.

Odom will be out at least two to three weeks, Coach Phil Jackson said, and probably longer, with surgery a remote possibility. Odom had surgery on the same shoulder for the same injury two years ago. The recovery period was almost four months.

Odom was injured Friday after being fouled by Sacramento center Brad Miller while attempting a shot with 2:47 to play.

He continued to play and even made one of two free throws before exiting with 1:04 left. He grimaced after being fouled and shook his left arm, as if gauging the strength of his shoulder, as he stood at the free-throw line.

It’s a painful injury that some players work their way through without immediate surgery.

Jon Barry, a 14-year NBA veteran who is now an analyst for ABC, suffered a torn labrum during the 2003-04 season with the Denver Nuggets. He didn’t know he had it until he’d played with it for six weeks, he said.

“It’s very uncomfortable,” Barry said. “It’s like an aching, nagging type of thing. It didn’t affect my range of motion, but certainly shooting the basketball some days was worse than others. If it was [Odom’s] off shoulder, it would be a lot easier to suck it up and play, but the second time with the same exact injury, that’s going to be awful difficult.”

The Lakers were competitive and lively in a 99-94 loss Sunday to Phoenix, with Odom’s replacement, Brian Cook, scoring 22 points and taking 14 rebounds.

Jackson said the Lakers were “not drowning” after Odom’s torn labrum was discovered Saturday. Indeed, they swam laps with one of the NBA’s best teams for most of Sunday’s game.

“I’ve been around the game too long to know that teams are not down and out simply because they lose a player here and there,” Jackson said. “This Phoenix team last year played without [Amare] Stoudemire. They were able to put a team together that competed. We’ll be able to compete.”

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Jackson finally talked with 41-year-old forward Scottie Pippen, who said last month he wanted to end a three-year retirement.

“I did get in touch with Scottie, but it was just kind of preliminary talk about how he’s doing, where he’s at and how he feels,” Jackson said.

“I think he was barbecuing at the time. He kind of talked about the parameters of what he can do and what he thinks he can do to help. I wanted to know his condition.”

If Odom and Walton are out for extended periods, the Lakers might look harder at Pippen. Walton has sat out 17 games because of a sprained right ankle.

mike.bresnahan@latimes.com