Kobe does like the attention. He knew almost immediately how bad his ankle felt, and that it wouldn't really be a problem for him going forward, with about a day off and a bit of relaxing.
I also believe that he was secretly looking to fall back on his ankle as an excuse should a loss have occurred yesterday. He would never own up to his wanting people to believe that's the reason for the loss or his performance, but the media saying it for him would be just fine all the same, and pretty much achieve the same desired result.