In an interview with Yahoo! Sports, Kobe Bryant talked about his Achilles rehab, thoughts on a return date and Carmelo Anthony. While Bryant said that he doesn’t know when he’s going to be able to return, he believes that he won’t take a step back in terms of production, but may be a little better.
“Personally? I’m going to be the way I’ve always been. Maybe a little better. It’s always interesting, it’s motivating to hear people doubt me. The same guys put the nail in my coffin six years ago. They’re still trying.”
For Bryant to come back better than he was last season would mean he would come back playing better than one of his most remarkable seasons of his career. While Bryant didn’t put up the best numbers of his career, but he recorded his highest eFG% in over six years and his highest TS% since 2008.
Bryant shot the best percentage from midrange of his career, 51.6 percent, and averaged his second highest scoring total over the last five seasons with his lowest recorded usage rate over that time.
He reinvented his game multiple times during the season. There was a two game stretch where Bryant scored at least 40 points and 12 assists, and a three-game stretch in which he averaged 13 assists.
While we may be a ways away from seeing Bryant return to the floor, it’ll be interesting to see how well he performs in relation to last season when he does.
