Nearly breaking into tears during a post-game interview with the press, Kobe called recovering from his torn ACL the biggest challenge of his career.

“[The challenge] is fueling me. I can feel it already,” Mamba said. “Players at this stage of their career, they pop an Achilles and the pundits say they’ll never come back the same. I can hear it already, and it’s pissing me off right now.”