It seems as if everyone has been speculating about when Kobe Bryant will return to the court after suffering a ruptured Achilles in an April game against the Golden Warriors. This time it’s Steve Nash saying that he thinks Bryant will be back between Opening Night and Thanksgiving.
LAL Steve Nash to Y! Sports on Kobe’s likely return: “I think he will be back some time between the beginning of the season & Thanksgiving.”
— Marc J. Spears (@SpearsNBAYahoo) October 1, 2013
Opening Night still doesn’t seem like a realistic goal considering that Bryant is still a couple of weeks away from running at full strength. After running, Bryant still has to go through agility drills, build his endurance and then move to basketball related activities.
There is no telling how long that process will take as Bryant’s expected return time from his injury is largely unprecedented.
Nash, on the other hand, has been practicing in all team activities through two days of practice. Nash ended last season suffering from a hamstring injury, a injury that tends to linger. Gasol has also been participating in team activities, but hasn’t been participating in the second part of two-a-days to preserve his knees for the regular season.
The collective age of the Lakers top three players could be cause for head coach Mike D’Antoni to get a bit more creative with managing rotations and the number of days off that Bryant, Nash and Gasol will receive during the season.
————————————————————————————————————
Be sure to check out our behind the scenes look at Lakers Media day