Bryant expressed only mild frustration on Wednesday after the long-expected decision to end his 18th NBA season after just six games. The superstar guard's broken bone in his left knee has kept him out since shortly before Christmas, and it still hasn't healed enough for weight-bearing exercise.
With just five weeks left in their injury-ravaged season, the Lakers (22-42) elected to preserve Bryant for next year, when he'll be 36. And though Bryant has barely played, he is determined to make sure the Lakers' failures of this season aren't repeated in 2014-15.
Exactly 11 months after tearing his Achilles, Bryant remained confident he can return in something close to top form. He plans to approach his remaining rehabilitation as “a seven-month training program,” giving him ample time to rebuild strength in his left leg.
“I don't want to say I'll be back at the top of my game,” Bryant said. “Because everybody is going to think I'm crazy, and it's the old-player-not-letting-go sort of thing. But that's what it's going to be.”
Bryant missed the first 19 games of this season after tearing his left Achilles tendon last April, returning Dec. 8. The five-time NBA champion was back in uniform for just 10 days before fracturing the top of his shinbone in Memphis.
The Lakers initially thought Bryant could return shortly after six weeks of recovery, but the bone has been slow to heal.
