For all intents and purposes, this looks like it will be Kobe Bryant’s final season in the NBA. If that is the case, Kobe and the Los Angeles Lakers are determined to make sure he makes it through the entire season and not have a fourth consecutive season-ending injury.
In order to prevent that, Kobe put in a lot of work in the off-season to get his body ready. As he revealed to James Worthy in a one-on-one interview on Time Warner Cable SportsNet, Kobe decided to do the opposite of what he has witnessed with other older players, and has no fear of the possible negative outcome:
The more research I did on players when they got older, they started transitioning their training programs to more of a recovery program. It was more like trying to catch up […] I decided to do the opposite. I decided to push myself just like I did when I was younger and if the wheels fall off, the wheels fall off, there’s nothing I can do about it, but I have to be strong.”
No one is quite sure whether Kobe’s methods were the best thing he could have done. His numbers haven’t been great this season, his efficiency has fallen, and he has already had to sit out three games. However, Kobe feels that he has to go all-out and he is always going to do things his way.
Kobe is one of the greatest players in NBA history and Lakers fans everywhere are fortunate enough to witness this last run. Hopefully everyone appreciates him while he is still around and as long as he makes it through this season relatively healthy, it will all have been worth it.
