Los Angeles Lakers superstar Kobe Bryant is on track to make his comeback after sitting out most of last season due to injuries. There's no also truth to the report that the former NBA MVP made his retirement after re-injuring his knee.

The 35-year old Bryant continues to stay relevant this late in the season, despite the brewing tensions between NBA finals combatants Miami Heat and the San Antonio Spurs. On Monday, social networking sites were flooded with reports about Bryant's retirement after re-injuring his surgically repaired knee.

However, Bryant representatives immediately downplayed what appears to be another hoax reporting from Newsnerd.com:

"Bryant, who began to show signs that he was returning to form, went up for a dunk while practicing and fell to the ground in pain. X-rays revealed that the 35-year-old once again fractured the lateral tibial plateau of his left knee.

Sources close to the future Hall of Famer revealed that he was extremely depressed over the ordeal and will announce his retirement from the NBA in the coming weeks."

After recovering from a torn Achilles tendon injury, Bryant played for 6 games midway into the season before being shut down for the remainder of the campaign after suffering a knee injury.

Bryant, who signed a lucrative two-year, $48.5 million contract extension with the Lakers, said he's already in tip-top shape physically and now following his intense six-month workout program.

"From a health standpoint, 100 percent. I started doing a lot of on-court training and so I'm back into my routine. Then I'll start lifting and start doing the running, which I hate. By the time the season comes around, I'll be ready to go."

It has been a rough past two seasons for Bryant and the Lakers, who surprisingly found themselves as a lottery team (no.7 pick) this coming NBA Draft. With Bryant's first of the two-year deal kicking in this coming season, general manager Mitch Kupchack will have to pull off a series of moves to form a championship-caliber team despite the constraints.

The Lakers have been angling for a trade for Minnesota Timberwolves star Kevin Love, but they don't have enough assets to satisfy the trade requirement.