The Los Angeles Lakers won on Tuesday night to snap a four-game losing streak, but their record is still just 9-31. At this point it has become clear that this season for the Lakers is about Kobe Bryant's swansong and not about them actually winning games. Bryant has recently been dealing with a sore Achilles that has made him miss some time. Bryant has tried to play through it, but longtime trainer Gary Vitti thinks Bryant should rest the injury, according to Janis Carr of The Orange County Register.
Bryant recently missed four out of six games for the Lakers before giving it a go against the New Orleans Pelicans on Tuesday, but he only lasted 16 minutes in that game. It is very possible that the Lakers are just being cautious with Bryant because they don't want him to sustain a major injury, but Vitti believes that the best course of action would be to have Bryant sit for one to two weeks before playing again.
The issue with Vitti's idea is that Bryant has no intention of sitting out for that period of time considering this is his last season of playing professional basketball. Bryant likely wants to cherish every moment he has remaining on the court, so he doesn't want to have to sit out with an injury he feels he can play through. Bryant reportedly was walking just fine when leaving the arena on Tuesday, but he didn't talk to the media and the extent of the injury is unknown.
Bryant has previously suffered a ruptured Achilles, so this may be more of a concern for him than most, which is why the Lakers will be extra careful with him. At the same time, though, the Lakers also don't want to deprive Bryant of playing when the number of games left in his career is dwindling. The Lakers' next game is on Thursday night against the Golden State Warriors, and Bryant is listed as questionable.
Bryant isn't exactly having a banner year in his final NBA season, but this year is more of a celebration of his tremendous career. He has appeared in 32 games for the Lakers and leads the team with his 17.3 points per game, although he is shooting just 35 percent from the field and 25 percent from three. The main goal of the Lakers and Bryant now is to keep him relatively healthy through the final game of the regular season.
