Mandatory Credit: Richard Mackson-USA TODAY Sports
The warrior inside 17-year veteran Kobe “Bean” Bryant has never allowed pain and injury to get the best of him. Winning is everything, even when it comes at the expense of his own health.
Unfortunately for the Los Angeles Lakers, the indestructible one now looks extremely vulnerable.
The normal recovery time for a torn achilles (if that is indeed the injury, MRI is pending) is roughly 10 to 12 months. As we’ve seen in the past, Bryant is no normal human being, and has returned to action a lot sooner than expected from injuries that usually require a lot more healing time.
As seen in last night’s post-game interview after the Lakers 118-116 win over the Golden State Warriors, Kobe was visibly upset, and even without a proper diagnosis, he was well aware of the extent of his injury.
There won’t be any miraculous, “Willis Reed” returns on the horizon for Bryant. He can’t walk. He’s a bionic cyborg as far as his health goes, but this injury just goes to show that even the great Kobe Bryant is not immune to the most serious of injuries.
The Los Angeles Lakers have scratched and clawed their way back into the postseason picture during the second-half of the season, winning 25 of their last 37 games and sneaking into that eighth seed in the Western Conference. If they do in fact manage to hold off the Utah Jazz and qualify for the playoffs, it’s going to be extremely difficult to make any type of noise without the heart and soul of their roster out there on the court.
Kobe Bryant vents on Facebook account
Chris Walder is the Editor of Sir Charles in Charge. You may follow him on Twitter at @WalderSports
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