Kobe Bryant is reportedly ready to return to his usual practice routine ahead of schedule.
When Kobe was diagnosed with a torn rotator cuff back in January, the hope was that he would need nine months to recover and be ready by the time Los Angeles Lakers training camp rolled around on Sept. 29. According to Kevin Ding of Bleacher Report, the 37-year-old was recently cleared for all basketball activities by his doctors — roughly one month ahead of schedule.
There has been plenty of speculation as to whether the 2015-2016 NBA season will be Kobe’s last. A lot will depend upon how the Lakers perform and if his body can hold up. While it is certainly a good sign that Bryant has been declared fully healthy ahead of schedule, we can’t forget that he has suffered three consecutive season-ending injuries and played in just 35 games last season and six the year before.
Kobe openly admits that he may only play one more year. He recently said that he needs to make that decision after the season is over, which Bryant is hoping happens a lot later this time around. It would be silly to expect him to play 40 minutes per game and average around 30 points like he did seven-plus years ago, but a healthy Kobe can never be discounted altogether.
Bryant has at least one goal remaining beyond the upcoming season, but he would be wise to take things one day at a time. The Lakers won just 21 games last season, which was the franchise’s worst finish in almost 50 years. A fully healthy Bryant would go a long way toward helping raise that number.
