On April 12, 2013, Kobe Bryant ruptured his Achilles against the Golden State Warriors and most were left wondering if Father Time had finally defeated the superstar. After months of rehabilitation and numerous practices, Bryant will make his highly-anticipated return against the Toronto Raptors.
According to his Facebook page, Bryant had three strong practices this week and will return Sunday against the Raptors.
Instead of trying to strengthen the ligaments around the Achilles, Bryant immediately had surgery the following day to speed up the recovery process. Only four months after the surgery, Bryant made headlines during his visit to China when he informed fans that he “shattered” the expected recovery time and was already able to walk and lift weights.
In mid-August, Kobe posted a video of him running on an anti-gravity treadmill on Instagram and by October, he was able to run on his full body weight. While most anticipated Bryant would return by opening day against the Clippers, he revealed that he was working on regaining mobility in his ankle with the Achilles already fully healed.
On November 5, the five-time champion blacked out his Twitter avatar and tweeted “#blackout #bearhunt” which signaled that a return was near. When asked about his avatar, Bryant shared that he needed at least three weeks of intense conditioning before returning to the practice court. On November 16, Bryant was medically cleared and participated in full-contact scrimmages. For the past couple of weeks, Bryant has taken time to measure what he can still do on the court while adapting to any physical limitations he may have following the injury.
With Bryant fully healthy and ready to go, he returns to the court extremely motivated to prove his doubters wrong. Throughout the entire recovery process, many were skeptical that he would be able to return at a high-level due to his age and the severity of the injury. With the Lakers exceeding expectations, Kobe Bryant will look to lead the Lakers deep into the playoffs.
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