When you think of the Lakers’ greatest player of the past 20 years, only one name pops up: Kobe Bryant. No other player in the past 14 years has been as durable or as successful as a star player than Kobe Bryant, which makes the next statement feel wrong, near blasphemous: Kobe Bryant is a major question mark going into next season.
Two years ago, when Bryant was healthy and played more than six games, the Lakers barely managed to sneak into the playoffs, despite having a roster that boasted big names like Bryant, Dwight Howard, Pau Gasol and Steve Nash. I’m sure we all remember Kobe Bryant playing 45+ minutes per game down the stretch to carry the Lakers to the playoffs. And I’m sure we all remember the horrific image of our superstar player, the face of the franchise for the past 14 years, tearing his Achilles tendon, hitting two free throws and limping off of the court. It’s an image that will stick with fans for a while because, up until that point, Bryant had managed to avoid any serious injuries for his career.
Kobe Bryant was a question mark last season. Nobody knew how Bryant would respond to a torn Achilles, or if could come back strong, in last season’s form. Bryant came back and looked rusty. He was turning the ball over at an astronomical rate and was not scoring at his usual clip; he had a terrible percentage from downtown and he simply looked ordinary. We knew it was going to take sometime before we got the real Kobe Bryant back, and we thought we would have more than enough time. Bryant then broke a bone in his knee cap, which ended his season.
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The question of whether or not Kobe Bryant will still be able to produce has grown even more this off season. Kobe has suffered two season ending injuries in the span of two seasons and has only played six games since tearing his Achilles. And he looked incredibly bad in those six games. No other team in the NBA needs a star player more than the Lakers, who had one of the worst seasons in team history without a star player to lead them to success (sorry, Pau). When you couple the injuries with the fact that Kobe is now 36 years old, the outlook doesn’t look too good for the Lakers Legend.
It’s not all bad for Laker fans. For one, Kobe Bryant was said to be completely healthy shortly after the season ended, giving him ample time to train and prepare his body for another season of grueling NBA basketball. And two, Kobe Bryant is absolutely insane. He will do just about anything to ensure that he is ready and able to produce at a high enough clip to satisfy his lust for greatness.
Whether Kobe Bryant is ready or not, it doesn’t appear to mean a whole lot for the Lakers chances in the Western Conference. Barring a surprise change to the Eastern Conference, there is only a very slim chance the Lakers manage to make the playoffs next season. Nonetheless, having a healthy Kobe Bryant will be the difference between another season of turmoil or a fairly competitive , much more exciting season.