(Originally published on March 13, 2014)
The Lakers officially announced on Wednesday that Kobe Bryant will be out for the rest of this season due to a knee fracture. With Bryant preparing for the 2014-15 season, he has played through numerous injuries throughout his career and this infographic via OC Register’s Bill Oram breaks down every single one of them:
All of Kobe Bryant’s career injuries in one place. Tremendous @ocregister graphic. http://t.co/6kTRMxrPvb
— Bill Oram (@bill_oram) March 13, 2014
As the graphic points out, Bryant has missed 112 games due to injury during the course of his 18-year career.
That’s the equivalent to about a season and a half worth of games, but Bryant has made up these missed games in the playoffs. The five-time champion is second in all-time playoff minutes to only the great Kareem Abdul Jabbar.
Kobe’s recent Achilles and knee fracture are the only injuries that have kept him out action for an extended amount of time. Bryant is extremely competitive and is known to fight through injuries in order to help his team win.
Bryant has a lot of mileage on his legs stemming from 18 seasons, deep playoff runs, and Olympic and FIBA competitions. However, Bryant will continue to keep himself in top shape and prepare for the 2014-15 season. With the window closing on Bryant’s opportunity to get his much-coveted sixth ring, Kobe knows he must stay healthy to help the Lakers compete for a title.