Kobe Bryant has had no setbacks from his Achilles rupture, but the media’s early season predictions indicate that they don’t expect Bryant to return to form. While the media’s ranking of Kobe among NBA players has been questionable the last couple of years, NBA.com’s GM Survey has been respectable. Bryant is usually among the top players in numerous categories according to the 30 general managers around the league.
Due to the severity of this injury, their opinions about Bryant have also unfortunately changed. For 12 straight years, Kobe was considered the best shooting guard in the league despite competition from Allen Iverson, Tracy McGrady, and Vince Carter. Unfortunately, that streak ended as James Harden has emerged as the best shooting guard and captured 56.7 percent of the vote. In addition, Kobe now ranks second behind Kevin Durant in terms of the best player at getting his own shot and the player they’d want taking a shot with the game on the line. Fortunately for Bryant, they still consider him the toughest player in the league with 31.0% of the vote.
There are a lot of questions surrounding Bryant’s return and that skepticism is reflected in these early season predictions. It’s understandable considering the severity of the injury, but if there is anyone who can come back from this injury, it’s Kobe Bryant. While most will disagree with these predictions, it only motivates Bryant as he continues to make progress.
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