When Los Angeles Laker star Shooting Guard Kobe Bryant went down with an obviously painful injury to his Achilles tendon against the Golden State Warriors last year, basketball fans everywhere caught their collective breath and shared a hope that one of the greatest players in the history of professional basketball was not seriously hurt.
However, an Achilles tear is major and one that is completely separated, as in Kobe’s case, is often thought to be one of the most difficult injuries to come back from and resume a normal career in professional sports.
But for the very few guys like Kobe Bryant out there, the difficult is done right away, the impossible takes a little longer. Kobe was never anything but 100% positive about his coming back to play for the Lakers again. At least in public he wasn’t, it must have been a hard road back with such a painful affliction.
Obviously the Laker organization never lost faith in Kobe either. Jeanie Buss, daughter of the late Laker’s owner Jerry Buss, was very supportive for Bryant throughout the ordeal as well as Laker’s GM Mitch Kupchak and Head Coach Mike D’Antoni.
So finally in the latter part of November this year Kobe returned to limited practice with the team and his return to a real game will be coming up soon. Everyone from the Buss family down to the fans in the cheap seats want all the best for Kobe and are hoping that he will not try to come back too early and reinjure the tendon.
As a show of good faith and also so they don’t lose Kobe, the Lakers have gone ahead with a new contract deal for Bryant totaling a whopping $48.5 Million for two additional years with the club. Not bad for a soon to be 36 year old NBA star. But, that’s the kind of player that Bryant is and that is how much he means to the team.
Critics argue that paying Kobe such a large sum of money will ultimately mean less for the other players on the team. It certainly does cut into their budget. Kobe himself defended his new contract on Twitter, “Most of us have aspirations for being businessmen when our playing careers are over. But that starts now. You have to be able to wear both hats.”
Bryant continued, “I’m very fortunate to be with an organization that understands how to take care of its players, and put a great team out on the floor. They’ve figured out how to do both.”
