The Lakers, who have been playing well with the help of the hot hand of Kobe Bryant, suffered a setback in their run to make the playoffs last night with a loss to the Atlanta Hawks.

To make matters worse, the Houston Rockets and the Golden State Warriors were both victorious, which makes the Lakers’ battle for a playoff birth that much more difficult.

To make matters even worse than worse, Bryant suffered what could be a season-ending ankle sprain. The Black Mamba called it the worst sprain he’s had since 2000.

The play in question happened with 2.6 seconds left in the game with the ball in Kobe’s hands going up for a shot.

The play is also not left without controversy. There’s video of it floating around the internet, as well as an old play that involved the same two players from the Western Conference Finals a few years back.

Was last night’s play dirty or just a accident?

Let’s take a look at all of these videos for the Viral Video of the Day: the shot and the trip from the Finals. Then, let the pros at ESPN break it down for us and follow it up with Kobe’s post-game interview.

Also, here’s what Kobe had to say about last night’s incident: “First and foremost, I think officials really need to protect shooters. You can contest shots, but you can’t walk underneath players, that’s dangerous for the shooter… He Jalen Rosed me.”

And, when asked if the play was dirty or intentional: “I don’t ever want to put that on somebody. I really don’t. I just think players need to be made conscious of it, and I think officials need to protect shooters, period.”

Heartbroken over Kobe’s injury? Re-live the good old days with some of Surfer Stephen’s favorite Lakers highlights below:

• Michael Jordan Settles Kobe Bryant Vs. LeBron James Debate
• Kobe Bryant Scores 30,000th Point
• Kobe Bryant’s Clutch 3-Pointers