As the NBA's regular season draws nearer, we're counting down the top 10 storylines to watch around the league over the course of the 2014-15 campaign. This entry is about Kobe Bryant's return from an injury-plagued season a year ago.
The stage for the final act of Kobe Bryant's career was set on April 12, 2013, when he somehow managed to step to the free throw line, make a pair of free throws and limp off the court under his own power after tearing his left Achilles tendon late in a win over the Warriors at Staples Center.
It was a truly heroic moment, displaying all the willpower and mental toughness it would take to know you almost certainly tore your Achilles – a devastating injury for any basketball player – but still manage to take a pair of free throws and walk off.
It's that same level of determination that has Bryant back, at 36 years old, attempting to revive his career after a lost season. It began with him rehabilitating from the Achilles tear and ended after six games when he suffered a left knee fracture that knocked him out for the rest of the season.
Julius RandlePhoto: NBAE via Getty Images
Bryant, new coach (and old teammate) Byron Scott and the rest of the Lakers are saying all the right things about what Bryant is still capable of doing, but the truth is if he approaches the player he's been throughout his career, it will be among the greatest achievements of his legendary career.
To put it simply, Achilles injuries are devastating for NBA players. If you go back and look at how they've affected players who have suffered the injury over the years, the results aren't pretty – and none of those players had the insane amount of mileage on their bodies that Bryant does after 18 years in the NBA.
Bryant was awful in his six games last season. Sure, it could have just been him being rusty and out of rhythm because of his rehab. It also could have been a sign of things to come.
The Lakers, for reasons only they can explain, agreed to give Bryant a two-year, $50 million contract extension last fall before he had returned from the Achilles injury. It was a ridiculous overpay, making Bryant the league's highest paid player through his 19th and 20th seasons, even though he was coming off a devastating injury.
But they made that deal, and now are stuck with a situation where Bryant is now the figurehead of a disastrous roster, playing alongside Steve Nash (another future Hall of Fame guard trying to recover from injury), rookie Julius Randle and not a lot else. The Lakers seem destined to be fighting with Utah for the worst record in the Western Conference. If they land in the top five of the 2015 draft, it would have the added benefit of allowing them to keep the pick, rather than send it to the Suns as the final piece of the Nash trade.
The preseason has added to the Lakers' woes. They lost Nick Young for two months with a thumb injury, have had Nash miss time, and have said publicly they're going to give up shooting 3-pointers to focus on mid-range jumpers … which they did Sunday against the Warriors to the tune of losing 116-75 and going 0-for-3 from 3-point range.
Basically the only thing that can prevent this season from being a disaster for the Lakers is Bryant returning to the level of play he showed during his last full healthy season in 2012-13, when he averaged 27.3 points, 5.6 rebounds and 6.0 assists and shot 46 percent from the field. Though Bryant didn't play any defense, he was a fulcrum for the Lakers offense and was able to will them to a playoff spot.
That team had Dwight Howard and Pau Gasol. This team has Carlos Boozer and Robert Sacre. Even a renaissance season from Bryant, even the most odds-defying comeback, would still leave the Lakers – at best – scrounging to make a playoff push in the insanely competitive Western Conference.
But when Bryant is involved, everyone pays attention. And there's no question the NBA will be closely watching Bryant to see just how much is left in this legend's tank.
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