NBA News: Kobe Bryant’s Comeback Hits a Snag
The Black Mamba will have to wait a little longer before he can finally play for the Los Angeles Lakers again.
Kobe Bryant missed the Lakers’ last practice because of treatment on his torn left Achilles tendon, and head coach Mike D’ Antoni said that “he has no idea” when will the Lakers star re-join team practices.
“He has a big desire to come back, but he understands there has to be a few steps he needs to take in order to come back,” Pau Gasol said in an interview with insidesocal.com. “I don’t think he’s taken those steps. Let the rehab and progress develop on its own. He’ll come back when he’s going to come back, whether it’s a week, two weeks, one month, two months, who knows.”
The 35-year-old tore his Achilles tendon on April 12, 2013, and usually, injuries of this type take 8-9 months of recovery period.
"I can't quite push all the way through yet, but it's coming along fine. It feels all right. It gets tight, so we just continue to work with the modalities and making sure we loosen it up and get it going, but I feel good about it." Bryant told Lakers insider Mike Trudell in a separate interview.
Bryant has mentioned many times that he’s ahead of recovery schedule and he has joined the team in their trip to China in a preseason series with the Golden State Warriors.
"He's doing well and has had no setbacks," added Lakers athletic trainer Gary Vitti last September. "He'll be ready when he's ready. Nobody has a crystal ball on this thing."
The Lakers are 2-4 in the preseason with wins over the Warriors (104-95) and Denver Nuggets (90-88) and losses over the same Warriors twice (100-95, 115-89), Nuggets (97-88) and Sacramento Kings (104-86).
In lieu of Bryant, the Lakers have been using offseason acquisition Nick Young at the two-guard in most preseason games. Steve Blake and Jodie Meeks also rotate at the wing spots in what looks like the temporary rotation until Bryant re-joins the team.