Kobe Bryant: One Injury Away

All athletes are one injury away.  That may mean one injury away from retirement or one injury away from injured reserve or one injury away from being cut from the NBA.  Fans like to believe their favorite players are indestructible.  As fans, we do not want to imagine the NBA without our favorite players.  That said, there are two things in life that are undefeated: (1) the IRS; and (2) Father Time.  Kobe Bryant is 34 years old and has been in the NBA since he was 17 years old.  When he began playing professional basketball, he was not even old enough to legally sign his first contract.  The other day as I was watching ESPN, I saw a statistic that is very telling.  Kobe has played 17 seasons in the NBA.  But, with his deep forays into the playoffs and Olympic competition, he has played an additional three years.  Those years represent a lot of miles on his aging legs. 

When other great players reach the twilight years of their respective careers, their minutes are limited by their coaches.  Kevin Garnett (draft class of 1995), Tim Duncan (draft class of 1997), Ray Allen (draft class of 1996), Jason Kidd (draft class of 1994) and others have all seen their minutes reduced drastically.  In some cases, their coaches place them on the inactive list, so they may rest.  Sometimes, players need to be saved.  I know the Lakers were in a tough battle for a playoff spot, but I find it hard to believe that Phil Jackson would have played Kobe 45 minutes a game.  But, then again, Kobe respects Phil.  Phil possesses the stature that makes it okay to tell Kobe to sit down and rest.  Mike D'antoni, on the other hand,  does not.  After all, he has never guided a team to the NBA Finals, much less won a championship.  

Whether you are a Kobe fan or not, if you love basketball, you have to respect his game.  He has been a warrior for many years.  He is a throwback type of player that believes in entertaining the fans, no matter the cost (even to his own detriment).  So many of the younger players miss a game because of headaches or sprained ankles.  It is truly a new day and I know there is a fine line.  Players make so much money now that they are constantly worrying about losing what they have attained via sponsorships and other branding opportunities.  During the 1980's and 1990's, super star players were not making the kind of money that slightly above average players make today.  I get that.  But, where is the showmanship and love for the game?  Nobody can say that Kobe does not posses those traits.

I have seen a few polls discussing whether Kobe will come back to the NBA.  Kobe will be back.  Now, the better question is, will he be the same player upon his return?  This brings me back to one of the first points I made--father time is undefeated.  That said, I just do not know if Kobe can recover from a torn ACL and return to his elite level of play.  I certainly hope that he can.  I know he will push himself during rehab.  I just do not know if his body, after 20 years, is capable of answering the call yet again.  Only time will tell.

Peace