Doubting Kobe Bryant—health related or otherwise—generally isn’t a good idea.
The Black Mamba strikes quickly, especially when it involves questioning his ability to return to the hardwood at maximum capacity.
Yet, even the seemingly invincible Bryant must respect his 35-year-old body at this point in his career. It’s one that has logged over 54,000 NBA minutes for the Los Angeles Lakers, and one that’s recovering from a devastating torn Achilles sustained last April.
Bryant recently completed the first week of a “rigorous conditioning” program lasting three weeks, according to Dave McMenamin of ESPN Los Angeles. That would entail a 2013-2014 return in mid-November for the five-time NBA champion.
But it really isn’t that simple. Bryant himself has been cognizant of the effect the Achilles surgery has had on his body as a whole.
Said Bryant per McMenamin: “It's really lack of flexibility and range of motion in the ankle joint. It's not anything to do with the [Achilles] tendon, necessarily…So, when you have that limited range of motion, I don't have to tell you the domino effect that that has for other parts of the body."
Indeed. Such an injury necessitates complete and total recovery for complete and total effectiveness on the basketball floor.
The question, then, is can Bryant play at full health two weeks from now or within the previously established nine-month recovery program that concludes in January?
His track record, injury history, personal drive and absolute killer instinct in everything he does would lend itself to the affirmative. He simply has the fire within to make it happen.
But this is a different injury, a different Lakers team and, most importantly, a different Kobe Bryant.
The Achilles is technically healed, but issues with his ankle and other areas of his body may linger throughout the season. The Lakers themselves are on the outside looking in when it comes to a playoff berth. A No. 8 seed and a quick postseason exit is the best they can hope for. And Bryant, as the wise 18-year veteran that he now is, has conveyed his patience and deference toward the recovery process.
Bryant will certainly be back sooner rather than later; it’s just that it won’t be the Bryant the NBA world has been accustomed to witnessing for the better part of two decades.
Team doctors will issue full medical clearance soon enough. Bryant, however, will hold off until the 2014-2015 campaign when marquee free-agent signings and a fully viable Lakers squad materialize to make his full return in every sense of the word.
Lakers fans may want to go on autopilot until then.
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