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Thursday, May 3, 2012

Kobe Bryant: How L.A. Lakers Legend's Knee Procedure Saved His Career - Bleacher Report

Kobe Bryant wasn't himself in Phil Jackson's final season as Los Angeles Lakers head coach.

Lakers fans were well aware of Bryant's knee problems, but many saw him taking the court in every single game and assumed that he would be able to play through the pain.

Things were worse than Bryant let on. In a telling quote to Yahoo!'s Adrian Wojnarowski, Bryant reflected on a frustrating 2010-11 season.

“I wondered how I was ever going to play basketball again," he said.

Whoa.

This is Kobe Bryant. This is the guy who plays through anything and everything to give his team what it needs. This is the guy who is the face of the Lakers.

From Wojnarowski:

His arthritic knee had gone bone on bone, making every step an excruciating exercise. Bryant felt like the end was creeping closer. He couldn’t practice and couldn’t move with authority on the floor.

'There were a lot of thoughts, a lot of self-evaluating going on, wondering, how can I ever be effective again? How am I going to play despite this knee? I couldn’t move. It was just so painful. There was nothing I could do,' said Bryant.

But that's all in the rear-view mirror for Bryant now.

"I feel brand new, man," the Black Mamba told Wojnarowski.

And he certainly looks like a completely different player.

Bryant didn't have the same spring in his step last season.

He struggled to finish around the rim in the same fashion we had seen from him previously. Bryant's scoring average (25.3 points) was the lowest we had seen from him since the 2001-02 season, nor was he as active on the defensive end as he had been before.

It's been a completely different season for Bryant this time around.

Bryant's "mysterious knee procedure" has had him looking like he did when he was still rocking No. 8 for the Lakers.

The blood-platelet therapy Bryant received in Germany has been crucial for extending his career.

He no longer experiences pain in his knee, nor does he have any limitations in terms of what he's able to do on the basketball court.

That's an awfully good thing considering how much his Lakers need him to be himself.

143274162_crop_650x440Stephen Dunn/Getty Images

Bryant is determined for this season not to end like last year.

Via Wojnarowski, Bryant said:

Nothing could materialize for us last year. I couldn’t be around my guys, couldn’t practice with them. And my personality could not rub off on the team. I could not give them what I’ve been giving them for the last two months.

Now, he's making his presence felt among his teammates. Now, he's creating an on-court chemistry that simply didn't seem to exist last season.

Now, the whole actually reflects the sum of its parts.

This isn't just about Bryant, Andrew Bynum or Pau Gasol. We're not talking about how the Lakers miss Lamar Odom, nor are we questioning how much time Bryant has left on the basketball court.

The narrative has completely changed around Bryant and his Lakers.

Sure, this is still Kobe's team, but this is a team united by one common goal: winning a championship.

Bryant understands what a sixth title would mean. He realizes that No. 6 would put him in the same conversation as Michael Jordan.

Above all, Bryant is fueled by his competitive drive to win at the highest level.

Fortunately for Kobe, his teammates and Lakers fans, he won't be forced to walk away from the game before he's ready to do so.

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