In a quiet moment early in the season, with few others around but with the entire world watching, Kobe Bryant extended his right arm and demonstrated a new shooting motion.
The wrist would barely cock in what should be, and what used to be, a fluid release. And the follow through – forget it. Yet he went on a scoring tear.
Bryant, who is averaging 30.8 points a game and hitting 45.6 percent of his shots, is in the midst of one of the most significant regular-season stretches of his career. He scored over 40 points on four straight occasions this month.
Kobe is eager to put to rest doubts about his longevity due to his advancing age and mounting injuries.
“I scored back-to-back 40s with a (bleeped)-up wrist,” Bryant said, at the mid-point of the streak. “What does it matter if it’s still (bleeped)-up in the playoffs?
“The guys in this league have to deal with me for a couple more years. I always have a chip on my shoulder. Is that a good thing? It got me five championships. It can’t be bad.”
Medical science has helped Bryant stay relevant this year. His right knee was a problem last season, forcing him to sit most practices. He went to Germany for Orthokine therapy, a procedure which uses individual autologous proteins derived from the patient’s blood that is injected into the problem joint.
By early in the season, Bryant was saying the problem was close to, if not completely, solved. He had a spring in his step but then there was the wrist. He tore a ligament in the preseason opener and found that it affected his ball handling. Then he fell on it in the first game of the regular season and “it hurt for sure.”
Kobe and the Los Angeles Lakers are next in action on Wednesday, 25 January, against the Clippers and Chris Paul.
Related Videos
