On April 12, Kobe Bryant suffered a ruptured Achilles tendon in a game against the Golden State Warriors. The next day, Bryant had surgery to repair the torn ligament, and has been rehabbing ever since.
The usual timetable for a return after an Achilles tear is nine-to-12 months, a during the summer there were reports that Bryant was shattering the return time from such a severe injury. In an interview with The National, a website in Dubai, Bryant says that he’s looking to be ready for Opening Night.
Addressing his Achilles injury, Bryant said he was getting stronger every day.
“Now it’s about cutting the recovery time, I should be OK [for the start of the season],” he said.
It’s unclear whether or not Bryant will actually be able to be back at full strength by the start of the season, which is just over a month away. Bryant still isn’t able to jog and put all of his body weight on the injury as he’s still a few weeks away from being able to move away from the anti-gravity treadmill.
Opening night would be an awfully quick return — just under seven months since the original rupture. However, there have been no setbacks in terms of his recovery, and trainer Gary Vitti has been impressed with the recovery (although upset with him for jumping off of a high dive).
It’ll be interesting to see if Bryant is able to play by Opening Night, but if he can’t, it’s not the end of the world for the Lakers. Bryant should return when he’s fully healthy, and not rush to get back and risk further injury.
(h/t Kobe Bryant Legend)
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