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Los Angeles Lakers star shooting guard, Kobe Bryant, has elected to undergo surgery on his injured right shoulder in order to repair a torn rotator cuff. The injury and surgery will almost certainly keep Kobe from competing for the remainder of his 19th season in the NBA.
Kobe has been dealing with wear and tear this season, more so than in the past due to an abnormally high amount of minutes he was forced to play earlier in the season in an attempt to compensate for other injuries that the team was dealing with at the time.
The Lakers have not been able to enjoy very much success this season and the loss of Kobe Bryant for the foreseeable future is only going to exacerbate the issues that are already present within the team’s present situation.
The Lakers star aggravated what had been a lingering shoulder injury last week after a dunk in the Lakers contest against the New Orleans Pelicans. After the injury had been confirmed to be a rotator cuff tear, the Lakers and Kobe decided on Monday that Kobe will get a surgery to repair the injury. The surgery will require several months of rehabilitation.
“Kobe is probably not going to play” again this season, coach Byron Scott said.
“We all know how tough he is,” Scott added after Monday’s practice. “He’s a trooper, so we pray for him that his return will be sooner rather than later.”
There has been some speculation as a result of the injury that this may result in the longtime Lakers superstar finally hanging up his jersey and retiring. Those close to the star and the team feel like that will not be the case.
“I don’t think we appreciate how tough he is, all the injuries and other things that he’s played with, to be able to come back the way that he’s come back. I don’t see Kobe as the type of guy that wants to leave his legacy on [these] terms. I think he wants to go out on his own terms. We’ll just have to wait and see,” Scott said.
