Standing on crutches in front of his locker with his sweaty game uniform on his back and tears in his eyes, Kobe Bryant confirmed the worst news to hit the Los Angeles Lakersin a season already full of heartbreaking disappointments.
Bryant said he suffered a torn Achilles tendon in his left leg in the fourth quarter of the Lakers’ 118-116 win over the Golden State Warriors on Friday, putting an end to his season no matter how far L.A. advances in the playoffs should it qualify.
“Just terrible,” Bryant said. “It’s a terrible feeling, man.”
Bryant will undergo an MRI on Saturday, but the team is calling the injury a “probable” and “complete tear.”
Bryant fell to the floor with 3:08 remaining in the fourth quarter while being guarded by the Warriors’Harrison Barnes. Bryant had played every minute of the game up to that point, scoring 32 points in the process — including back-to-back 3-pointers to tie the game with 3:45 remaining. “I made a move that I make a million times and it just popped,” said Bryant.
Bryant asked Barnes if he had kicked him in the leg. When Barnes said he hadn’t, Bryant said he knew that a major injury had occurred.
“I was just hoping it wasn’t what I knew it was,” Bryant said. “Just trying to walk it off, hoping that the sensation would come back, but no such luck.”
Following a timeout, Bryant went back into the game and hit both of his free throw attempts with the injury to end his night with 34 points, five rebounds and four assists before being subbed out for Metta World Peace and heading to the locker room.
“MRI, surgery and then recovery,” Bryant replied when asked what his next step is. “I was really tired, man. Just tired in the locker room and dejected and thinking about this mountain to overcome. I mean, this is a long process and wasn’t sure I could do it. Then your kids walk in and you’re like, ‘I need to set an example. Daddy is going to be fine.’ I can do it. Work hard and just go from there.”
Recovering from surgery to repair a torn Achilles can take anywhere from three months to a year. The Los Angeles Clippers‘ Chauncey Billups recently went through the process. Hall of Famer Charles Barkley‘s career came to an end because of it, as did the career of Bryant’s longtime teammate Shaquille O’Neal.
The injury:
Doctor who performed Kobe Bryant’s surgery is optimistic
Kobe talked to the media right after his injury, with tears in his eyes:
Read more at ESPN
