Kobe Bryant Reportedly Didn’t Tell Mike D’Antoni He Was Leaving the Country For Treatment

Kobe Bryant recently bounced from the Lakers to head to Germany and receive treatment on his surgically repaired knee, which isn’t too big of a deal—it’s certainly not the first time Kobe has traveled overseas for some slightly shady medical procedure—but according to the NY Daily News, the Lakers star took off without even alerting his head coach. Sorry, Mike: “Still recovering from his torn Achilles last April, Bryant has yet to be cleared to run or jump by the Lakers. His return date to the team for game action is unknown. The team said he went to Germany for treatment unrelated to the Achilles injury. Interestingly, he didn’t tell Mike D’Antoni that he was leaving, choosing to notify the team’s long-time trainer, Gary Vitti, instead. ‘Kobe not telling Mike D’Antoni tells you something about what Kobe thinks of coaches, and also Mike’s status,’ said one NBA head coach. ‘Now if that were Phil Jackson, I would think Kobe would have told him he was going.’ Beyond Bryant showing D’Antoni a lack of respect, there has to be major concern among the Lakers about their aging superstar’s sore knee. He raved about the Orthokine treatment in 2011, saying it made him ‘a lot stronger,’ and he was able to regain some quickness and explosion going to the basket. But he was 33 at the time and now he’s two years older.”