Los Angeles Lakers guard Kobe Bryant is expected to miss the remainder of the season with a torn rotator cuff in his right shoulder. However, a final word from the doctor is still to come, according to Ramona Shelbourne of ESPN.
Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports is reporting that Bryant and the Lakers will wait until Monday to make an official decision on his shoulder depending on what the doctor tells him. If Bryant is required to have surgery, he could be out 5-6 months. If he doesn’t undergo surgery, he could rest and rehab, but that would increase the risk of him re-aggravating the injury in the near future.
It seems like surgery would eventually be the solution and Bryant will be out for the season. Coach Byron Scott had already talked about the possibility of shutting down Kobe Bryant before the injury. Now, that decision shouldn’t be hard to make.
The only concern for Bryant and all the Laker fans now is whether he will call it a career or make another return next season. This will potentially be the third straight year where Bryant has had a season-ending injury, but there is belief that he will come back next year to continue his career.
“I know he doesn’t want to go out this way,” Byron Scott said.
Coach Scott is blaming himself for this injury due to the heavy minutes he handed to Bryant earlier in the season.
“Almost made me sick,” Scott said of the minutes he gave to Bryant. He apologized to Kobe via text message and Kobe replied, “Don’t worry about it.”
Kobe Bryant also took it to Twitter to lighten the mood a little bit.
“This is what happens when I pass too much! #ShoulderShock,” Bryant said.
For the Lakers, it looks like they are headed to the lottery for a second straight year and will likely keep their 2015 first-round pick.