Radmanovic admits lying about injury

LOS ANGELES, Feb. 23 (UPI) -- Los Angeles Lakers forward Vladimir Radmanovic admitted Friday he lied to the team about the cause of a shoulder injury that will sideline him for two months.

Radmanovic, 26, originally said he slipped on an icy sidewalk last Saturday in Utah. But in a statement issued by the team Friday he said the injury resulted from a snowboarding mishap.

"The truth is that I hurt myself in a fall while snowboarding," Radmanovic said. "Being young and sometimes immature, I initially panicked and made up a false story about how I hurt myself.

"However, over the past few days my conscience has been bothering me terribly. I am not a dishonest person and could no longer live with this deception. Therefore, I came forward today and told the truth to the Lakers."

Radmanovic, who has averaged 6.9 points a game in 52 contests this season, separated his right shoulder.

"I vow to work as hard as possible to rehabilitate my shoulder and rejoin my teammates as soon as possible and to help us become a team that Lakers fans can be proud of," he said.