Return from injury to test Kobe's toughness, patience

LOS ANGELES - Kobe Bryant's fabled toughness will be tested this season as the 35-year-old NBA superstar bids to return from a devastating Achilles tendon injury.

Bryant won't be on the court with the Los Angeles Lakers when they launch their 2013-14 campaign against the LA Clippers on Tuesday.

It's not clear just when he will return or how he'll play once he is back after surgery in April to repair the ruptured tendon.

"It's the explosiveness," Bryant said in early October of what he's still lacking. "The explosiveness and the muscle endurance which takes a little time.

"I have to get my fat ass in shape, too," said Bryant, adding: "When I'm ready, I'm ready."

The uncertainty surrounding Bryant as he heads into his 18th NBA season no doubt accounts for the fact that the NBA's annual poll of its general managers named Bryant the second-best shooting guard in the league behind Houston's James Harden -- the first time in the poll's 12-year history that the "Black Mamba" didn't top the voting at the position.

It was one more knock, after ESPN ranked the Lakers as the 12th-best team in the Western Conference and Bryant as the 25th-best player.

Bryant quickly topped his Twitter profile with the number 1225, seen as defiant nod to ESPN's ratings.

Lakers coach Mike D'Antoni was confident that any perceived slight will only serve as fuel for Bryant's return.

"It's maybe just one more thing that pushes him," D'Antoni said. "But he doesn't really need it."

D'Antoni noted that the executives who did the voting would likely all jump at the chance to add Bryant to their teams.

"I'm sure 30 execs would get him in a second if they could get him," D'Antoni said.

Bryant did get the nod from the executives polled as the league's toughest player.

That toughness has backed up his skills for years as he played through and around injuries including a broken wrist, a torn ligament in his shooting wrist, a damaged index finger, a debilitating back injury, hip and elbow injuries, a troublesome right knee and too many sprained ankles to count.

For all the wear and tear he has endured, Bryant showed no sign that his game was diminished last season, when he averaged 27 points, six rebounds and six assists.

Bryant passed Wilt Chamberlain for fourth on the NBA's all-time scoring list last season, and his efforts kept the slow-starting Lakers fighting for the playoffs.

When he returns, Bryant will have another batch of milestones in his sights. He'll need only 676 points to pass Michael Jordan for third on the all-time scoring list. He needs 113 assists to become just the 30th player in league history to reach 6,000.

Most importantly, Bryant will be eager to add to the five NBA titles he won in 2000, 2001, 2002, 2009, 2010.

He insisted in June that the Lakers can contend, despite the departure of big man Dwight Howard for Houston.

With Howard gone and Bryant sidelined, it will be up to veteran point guard Steve Nash and center Pau Gasol to get the Lakers firing.

"I hear the critics (saying) everything is up in the air," Bryant said in June. "It may seem that way now, but the dust will settle. We'll have a team out there on the floor that's going to be a contender."

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Bryant suffers 'probable' torn Achilles

Kobe Bryant declared his season over after scoring 34 points before leaving the game with a likely torn Achilles tendon, as the Los Angeles Lakers kept their playoff hopes alive with a 118-116 win over Golden State.

Bryant said he felt a "pop" as he tried to beat Harrison Barnes to the outside with just over three minutes left in the fourth quarter of Friday night's tight National Basketball Association contest.

"I felt like I got kicked. It is a move I make a million times and pop," Bryant said. "Just a freak situation I guess."

Lakers spokesman John Black said after the game that Bryant had a "probable torn Achilles."

"Bryant will undergo an MRI examination tomorrow to confirm the diagnosis," Black said.

The all-star guard and future Hall of Famer went one further insisting he already knows the extent of the injury and his season is over.

"I can't walk. I tried to put pressure on my heel to see if I can do it that way and there is nothing there," Bryant said. "I had no Achilles, that is the sensation. MRI, surgery and then recovery."

The Lakers still managed to secure the victory at Staples Center arena without Bryant, as Steve Blake made two free throws with 42 seconds remaining before they held off Golden State to stay in the hunt for a post-season spot.

With just three games left in the season heading into Friday's contest, the fifth leading scorer in NBA history had been on a punishing pace trying to carry the Lakers on his back down the stretch.

He tried playing entire quarters Friday without taking a break and it finally caught up to him in the third quarter when he injured his knee and foot on separate plays.

But he stayed in the contest until 3:08 in the fourth when he collided with Barnes, drawing a foul. He hobbled to the stripe and sank two free throws to tie the game 109-109 and then limped off the court for the final time and headed straight to the dressing room.

"I hate it. I hate it for Kobe. I hate it for LA," said Lakers coach Mike D'Antoni.

D'Antoni said he had reluctantly allowed Bryant to dictate his own minutes in games this season. He said he tried, but couldn't convince Bryant to take more time off.

"He wouldn't budge on it. Part of me didn't want him to budge either," D'Antoni said Friday. "You can second guess it. He is an incredible player. It happened and we will go forward.

"We made decisions collectively and tried to make the best ones we can. But right now it didn't turn out great."

The injury comes during Los Angeles' critical playoff run in which the team currently remains one game ahead of Utah for the eighth and final post-season spot in the Western Conference.

Bryant says the Lakers can still make the playoffs and he feels he can now help the team by taking on a mentor role.

"I can't be with them out on the floor but I can use my intellect to break down film and help as much as I can from sideline," Bryant said.

"I never had to deal with something like this. It is a new experience for me."

Bryant insists he is going to return from this stronger than ever.

"It is fueling me. I can feel it already," he said. "Players at this stage of their careers pop an Achilles and the pundits say they never come back the same. I can hear it now."

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com