The defense of the first Most Valuable Player Award for Los Angeles Lakers' Kobe Bryant has got off to a painful start.

Bryant left Tuesday's preseason game against the Charlotte Bobcats in the second quarter with a hyper-extended right knee after he bumped into teammate Josh Powell and landed awkwardly while trying to rebound teammate Sun Yue's missed shot.

The 30-year-old Bryant, who scored four points in 14 minutes before his departure, limped a bit and signaled to the bench to take him out of the game before the Lakers called timeout.

"I didn't even ask him about the injury," Lakers coach Phil Jackson said after the Lakers' 102-98 win over the Bobcats. "The trainer said he hyper-extended his knee somewhat. We'll see what it's like (Wednesday), and then go from there."

Long considered the league's best player, Bryant finally was awarded with the NBA's most prestigious individual award last season prior to leading the Lakers back to the NBA Finals, where they lost to the archrival Boston Celtics in six games.

Bryant already had injury concerns entering this season, as the star guard had decided not to have surgery on his badly injured right pinkie. The two-time scoring champion has long refused a surgical procedure on the digit - which has been injured since February - if it meant missing any regular-season contests.

Los Angeles opens the regular season against the Portland Trail Blazers on October 28.