Kobe Bryant wore a protective mask for his broken nose.

The biggest story of the All-Star Game -- yes, even bigger than LeBron James passing up a game-winning shot -- was that Los Angeles Lakers star Kobe Bryant suffered a broken nose and concussion after a weirdly hard foul by Dwyane Wade of the Miami Heat. The Lakers can't afford to miss their top offensive threat for any amount of time, especially with such a thin roster. Luckily for the team, doctors abided by the NBA's new concussion policy and cleared him to play hours before Wednesday night's home game against the Minnesota Timberwolves. However, Kobe could only play if he protected his nose from more damage. Because Kobe is who he is — a maniacally competitive guy who pretty much demands to be taken seriously — the entire look turned out to be hilarious. As with Bryant's legendarily disastrous all-white fashion shoot, anything that makes him look ridiculous, or in any way not tough, becomes about 50 times more hilarious than it would with any other player. Naturally, basketball fans reacted with jokes, from the Twitter account @KobeMask to a few inspired photoshops of Kobe as the masked rapper MF Doom. The experience wasn't quite so enjoyable for Bryant, who told reporters after the game about the discomfort. From Mike Bresnahan for the Los Angeles Times: "It just felt like it started sweating immediately inside." ... "It felt like I had a sauna on my face. ... I was drinking my own sweat."