Kobe Bryant vows to play in the final games of his Lakers career
It's fair to say that Kobe Bryant's retirement tour hasn't gone exactly to plan.
That has less to do with the Los Angeles Lakers' poor record, however, and more to do with Bryant's body continuing to break down. His shoulder in particular has given the Black Mamba fits through his final season; the grueling routine Bryant must endure simply to prepare to play is more than we'd be willing to go through.
With all of those aches and pains, Bryant has missed 16 games so far in 2015-16, the vast majority of which have come at home. But Bryant realizes that his career is in its final days. As a result, he told reporters on Sunday that he will play in the Lakers' nine remaining games, unless something catastrophic happens:
Kobe Bryant says he plans to play the final nine games of the season:
— LakersTV (@LakersTV) March 28, 2016
VIDEO: https://t.co/gOGNvQGlhq
Here's hoping Bryant's able to live up to his claim. Unfortunately, we're pretty skeptical -- not because Bryant's a liar, but because he is in fact so physically broken.
This was the fear when Kobe came out of the gate with three-a-day workouts before the season started. This was the fear when he consistently played at least 30 minutes during the first weeks of this season, only resting when he was at the point of exhaustion. And this was the fear when coach Byron Scott eschewed his responsibilities as coach and let Bryant take the reins over his playing time and the offense.
If Bryant had played less and carried a lighter load earlier in the year, perhaps he'd be healthy enough to say goodbye to the league. Instead, we're left wondering if he has enough left in the tank to play nine straight games to end his career.
On the bright side, the Lakers have just one back-to-back left this season after Monday's game against the Utah Jazz. The Lakers face the Clippers on consecutive nights at Staples Center next week. That should give Bryant plenty of chance to rest. Hopefully.
