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• "I think that's a realistic goal for him, based on what he was talking about this morning," Kupchak said at the Lakers' training complex after visiting Bryant at the Kerlan-Jobe Orthopaedic Clinic.
• Bryant completely tore his left Achilles tendon late in the Lakers' 118-116 win over Golden State on Friday night, falling to the hardwood after pushing off his planted foot in an ordinary move toward the hoop. Although he stayed in the game to hit two tying free throws with 3:08 to play, Bryant's season was over.
• Bryant's foot will be immobilized for about a month to prevent him from stretching out the tendon, followed by a lengthy rehabilitation process. Nobody knows how the injury will affect Bryant's play, but his decision to have surgery less than 24 hours after getting hurt suggests he's determined to get back on top swiftly.
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year.
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• Today's Highlight in History:
• On April 14, 1865, President Abraham Lincoln was assassinated by John Wilkes Booth during a performance of "Our American Cousin" at Ford's Theater in Washington.
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• On this date:
• In 1775, the first American society for the abolition of slavery was formed in Philadelphia.
• In 1828, the first edition of Noah Webster's "American Dictionary of the English Language" was published.
• In 1902, James Cash Penney opened his first store, The Golden Rule, in Kemmerer, Wyo.
• In 1910, President William Howard Taft became the first U.S. chief executive to throw the ceremonial first pitch at a baseball game as the Washington Senators beat the Philadelphia Athletics 3-0.
• In 1912, the British liner RMS Titanic collided with an iceberg in the North Atlantic at 11:40 p.m. ship's time and began sinking. (The ship went under two hours and 40

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