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Is this the end of the road for Kobe Bryant?
Mark Pybus
Roar Guru
28th January, 2015
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Have we seen the last of Kobe Bryant? AAP Image/Alan Porritt)
Mark Pybus
Roar Guru
28th January, 2015
3

When the news came in that Kobe Bryant will miss the rest of the 2015 NBA season with a torn rotator cuff, suddenly the questions arose once more about his basketball mortality.

For year after year now, it seems Kobe has started the season returning from a major injury of some sort. In recent years it has been fingers, knees and Achilles, but something every year.

Still, he always seems to reassure the basketball world that his star wasn’t going to fade.

This season we were treated to some 2005 vintage Kobe with his early season shot count peaking at the mid 20s, but unfortunately a lot of those shots didn’t go in.

He had his moments though, most notably with a 39-point game against Phoenix and a 44-point effort against the on-fire Warriors.

When the critics started pointing out his low field goal per cent and high shot numbers, Kobe responded in typical Kobe manner, by not shooting at all and racking up assists.

Just like when Wilt Chamberlain responded to those who said he couldn’t lead the league in assists by averaging a league best 8.6 in 1967-68, Kobe was trying to prove to the world that he wasn’t a selfish gunner.

To add an exclamation point to his all round game, he posted two triple doubles this season and had a statement game against LeBron James and the Cavs, dishing out a career high 17 assists.

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I’m still not sure if he was trying to deliberately troll LeBron. LeBron gets considerable praise for his passing game but only has a career high of 16 assists.

Either way that was the last great performance we saw from Kobe this season and now the focus switches to when or if we will see him return.

When he did his Achilles in 2013 I really thought that was the end for the Black Mamba. The list of players in their 30s coming back from that type of injury was not long, but Kobe did end up returning, even for only a brief moment before being shut down for the 2014-15 season with a knee injury.

With a long recovery time Kobe came into this season with a renewed vigour, spurred on by chasing personal records. It was great while it lasted and was really the only reason people chose to watch an appalling Lakers team.

It is with some irony that his shoulder was injured on a dunk, the very action that defined his early years as a high flying athletic superstar.

So after three consecutive seasons ended by three different injuries will this be the last we see of Kobe Bryant?

He still has another year on his $25-million contract and depending on how the Lakers go in the 2015 Draft and Free Agency, they could be a playoff team in 2016.

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Kobe is all about the rings and has constantly been quoted as saying all that matters is that sixth ring, tying him with the player he is most compared to, Michael Jordan.

Add in that he has spent almost half of his life playing in the NBA and I don’t think he knows what to do in retirement. His life is so centred on basketball and winning that I don’t think he will know what to do with himself if injury forces him to face retirement.

For now he will have surgery on his shoulder, watch the Lakers continue their losing season and do his bit to convince free agents to come to Los Angeles.

There might be one last fight in Kobe yet. The Mamba is wounded, but not ready to die.

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