Over the past few years, sports critics have been faulting the play of Kobe Bryant, chalking it up to old age. Now Bryant has a chance to silence all the doubters with this unusually lengthy off-season.
Los Angeles Lakers’ star Kobe Bryant, 33, is enjoying his longest hiatus since the 2005-06 NBA season. Bryant, who will be entering his 16th year in the NBA, all with the Lakers, is carrying a ton of miles and minutes as a player. With a grand total of 1,103 games and 40,145 minutes under his belt, the middle-aged veteran could use the rest.
Lakers fans demand excellence, so a season that does not end in a championship is usually considered a failure. So try to imagine the pressure Bryant puts on himself to maintain that standard year in and year out.
As a Laker, Bryant has met the fans’ expectations for greatness by making the playoffs 14 out of his 15 NBA seasons. Since 2006, his summers have been cut short due to deep playoff runs or surgeries that involved intense rehab.
As a player gets older, the first things to go are his legs, and more specifically, his knees. Bryant has been battling sporadic problems in his right knee, as well as his ankles over the past 3-4 years. Because being average is not acceptable for Kobe Bryant, he is constantly pushing through the pain and fatigue. His mindset is to never surrender. Not able to cope with failure, he takes it upon himself to carry his team when they are in dire need. Ultimately, this causes him to use more energy, adding more stress to his body.
With all his mental pushing, rough play, and determination, it is no wonder Bryant has looked physically tired towards the end of games in recent years. He has played too many games with too little rest the last four seasons, and this summer vacation is a great thing for him. It allows him to recuperate and get back to top physical condition.
Despite playing only five playoff games in 2007, it was Bryant’s decision to play for Team USA in the Beijing Olympics in 2008 that began his run of over working himself. In the summer of ’07, a time he would normally spend resting, he spent his time training, practicing, and playing qualifying games for USA.
The following 2007-08 NBA season, Bryant and the Lakers surged through the playoffs playing 21 games, which ultimately ended in a heart-breaking loss to their archenemy Boston Celtics in the Finals. A few weeks later, Kobe Bryant boarded a plane and headed for Beijing, China.
Next Page: Team USA and the NBA Finals
This was no ordinary year for Team USA basketball as they had one goal in mind, to redeem the status and respect of the so-called “Dream Team” by taking home the gold medal. At the 2004 Summer Games in Athens, Greece they won a bronze medal, a result deemed unworthy by American standards. Safe to say these Olympic games were not to be taken lightly.
When the United States Olympic Committee hired Duke University’s head coach Mike Krzyzewski to take over after the Athens disaster, anything less than gold was unacceptable. For Kobe Bryant and the rest of the 2008 Dream Team, it was an extra two weeks of practice and games, giving 110% of their energy to represent their country and put Team USA back on top.
Although Bryant returned home with a gold medal, he still had a sour taste in his mouth from losing in the NBA Finals. Enjoying a short two-month break before training camp opened, it was time to lace up the Nike shoes and get back to work, only this time with vengeance.
The Los Angeles Lakers were determined to avenge their 2008 mishap to the Celtics by winning it all in 2009. They finished the regular season with the best record in the Western Conference, and went on to win the Finals in five games. They went back to the Finals in 2010 for a rematch against the Celtics, in a physically rough seven game series that ended with the Lakers winning back-to-back championships.
So in three consecutive years, the Lakers made it all the way to the NBA Finals, and for Bryant, it amounted to a whopping 698 extra minutes, and 67 extra games. That is 15 games less than a full NBA regular-season.
After the disappointing 2010-11 season, where fans witnessed a decrease in minutes from 38.8 in 2009-10 to 33.9 in 2010-11 and an early playoff exit, Bryant has finally been able to enjoy a longer than usual five month off-season. A break that for the past four years, has been closer to three months, and now with a potential NBA Lockout looming, his time off could be longer.
Now I know there are people out there who believe that NBA players, as well as all other professional athletes, are getting paid lots of money to be in shape and play a full season without getting tired. The fact is they are still human. With practice every day, an 82 game season, traveling cross-country, lack of sleep, and playing double headers, players are entitled to get exhausted, especially stars like Kobe Bryant. To top it all off, the Lakers make the playoffs just about every year, adding on a good 15 to 20 games. So fatigue is bound to happen.
Players also sustain injuries that require time to heal, and those who follow the Lakers know that Bryant plays through pain. So there might be times after travel days and playing through injuries that a player may look like he is giving 70 percent, but in actuality he is giving 100 percent. Unfortunately, the tank is on empty.
Bryant underwent knee surgery after the season to clean out loose cartilage that was causing him some discomfort the past few years. An injury like this needs time to heal otherwise it will continue to reoccur. Cartilage, which acts as a lubricant in between joints, does not grow back, and if it keeps tearing Bryant will have no choice but to retire early.
This long off-season, and possibly extended off-season due to an impending NBA Lockout, could be a great thing for the 33-year old superstar. The more time Bryant has to rest his whole body, and allow all his nagging injuries to heal, the more explosive and stronger he will be throughout the season.