Los Angeles Lakers Guard Kobe Bryant (24)
Bryant is at the fifth spot with $61.5 million earnings. He signed a two-year contract with the Los Angeles Lakers worth $48.5 million in November 2013. Bryant also has sponsor deals with Nike, Lenovo, Turkish Airlines, Hublot, and Panini. Reuters/Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA

Los Angeles Lakers superstar Kobe Bryant is ready to embrace a diminished role heading into the 2014/15 NBA campaign.

The Lower Merion High School product, who leapt straight to the pro ranks as an 18-year-old, is considered to be one of the "warriors" of the biggest basketball league in the world because of his will to play through pain and injuries throughout his career.

Such sacrifice, on top of the body's natural wear and tear for eighteen seasons, has obviously made him more vulnerable to injuries.

The 36-year-old was still in recovery phase following a surgery that repaired his torn achilles, but unfortunately, the knee belonging to the same extremity as the said achilles suffered a fracture, limiting his participation to just six appearances last year.

"I don't see it as much of a big deal," said Bryant of the idea of reducing his minutes on the floor.

"I'm kind of sensing today that it's a hot topic of conversation, but I don't understand it too much."

"As you get older, you have to accept some things that you can and can't do. I don't see it being much of an issue."

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