Kobe Bryant provided arguably his biggest highlight of the 2015-16 NBA season when he rose up for a massive dunk over Houston Rockets big man, Clint Capela. Afterwards, he was seen rubbing his right shoulder which immediately gave Lakers fans flashbacks of last year.
Bryant missing the team’s next game against the Oklahoma City Thunder only served to make fans more nervous that he had injured his shoulder again.
It looks as if that isn’t the case as head coach Byron Scott announced that Kobe is likely to play in the Lakers game against the Denver Nuggets according to Mark Medina of the Los Angeles Daily News:
Kobe is back in Denver today. Byron thinks it's likely Kobe plays tomorrow vs Nuggets
— Mark Medina (@MarkG_Medina) December 21, 2015
It was just last season that a dunk caused Kobe to tear his rotator cuff and miss the remainder of the year. This brought back memories, but ultimately turned out to be much more minor, though the Lakers are sure to hold their breath anytime Kobe dunks.
Hopefully, this injury doesn’t throw Kobe out of rhythm as he was in the midst of his best stretch of the year. In his last six games, Kobe is averaging just under 19 points per game on nearly 50 percent from the field. He has shown better shot selection and is facilitating more, allowing the Lakers young players to get involved.
What started out as a rough season for Kobe has really turned around and the Lakers are hoping that he can keep up this level of play throughout the rest of the year.