Basketball

Fracture likely to sideline Bryant six weeks — Kobe Bryant is expected to miss about six weeks with an injured left knee. The Lakers said Thursday that an MRI showed Bryant has a fracture of the lateral tibial plateau of his knee. The team said Bryant had hyperextended the knee in Tuesday night’s game at Memphis. The injury is the latest setback for the Lakers star, who had only returned to the court on Dec. 8 after nearly eight months away because of a torn Achilles tendon.

Winter sports

White through safely to finals, top-30 finish — Shaun White qualified for slopestyle finals at the U.S. Grand Prix on Thursday, guaranteeing himself the top-30 finish he needed to be eligible for the Sochi Olympics. Less than a week after hurting his left ankle during a halfpipe contest, White tried a conservative first run, then added an extra revolution to his last jump on his second trip down the mountain. He scored 85.66 points to finish third in his heat and earn a place in the 16-man final Sunday. White skipped the halfpipe contest this week to be sure he was healthy enough for slopestyle — the event where he still needed the top-30 finish in this World Cup contest, which is a minimum international requirement for any potential Olympian.

Figure skating champ Boitano says he’s gay — Olympic figure skating champion Brian Boitano came out Thursday, two days after he was named to the U.S. delegation for Sochi along with openly gay athletes Billie Jean King and Caitlin Cahow. The 1988 gold medalist had always kept his personal life private, saying in a statement that “being gay is just one part of who I am.” But President Barack Obama’s decision to include openly gay athletes in the delegation for the opening and closing ceremonies — and not send high-ranking officials — was widely seen as a message to Russia about its treatment of gays and lesbians.

— From wire reports