Thursday, June 24th, 2010 at 10:30 am  |  42 responses

Kobe Bryant Set for Finger Surgery

The summer will be all about resting and getting healthy for Kobe, with the number one priority being to fix that nagging index finger. From ESPN: “Kobe Bryant played the majority of last season with his right index finger taped up in a split after suffering an avulsion fracture in December and doesn’t plan on doing it again. Bryant said he would likely have surgery on his finger when he returned from watching the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa. ‘I’m going to talk with our staff here and [Lakers general manager] Mitch [Kupchak] as well and come up with a timeline to take care of some of the injuries that have been nagging me and things we need to address,’ Bryant said. ‘We’ll do that before I leave.’ Bryant was also bothered during the season by his twice-surgically repaired right knee but said it wasn’t really an issue after he got it drained during the playoffs. ‘The finger [was the problem],’ Bryant said. ‘The knee was fine. Once we drained the knee it was fine or fine enough. The finger though was a constant problem. It was always around. I had to take the wrap around my entire finger and the hard splint underneath it so feeling the basketball was really tough. It was always a constant battle to adjust to it.’ Bryant said his surgery would ‘probably be something invasive’ but didn’t ‘expect it to be anything major.”‘

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  • James the Balla Posted: Jun.24 at 11:03 am
    Warrior!!

  • kob**ch bryant Posted: Jun.24 at 11:05 am
    just paid the docs to cut that m*fos finger off!

  • Negetivekreep Posted: Jun.24 at 11:16 am
    Can’t wait to c what Kobe does when he’s healthy…

  • jumpman3224 Posted: Jun.24 at 11:19 am
    co-sign @james the balla. Getting ahead of myself, I think next year is a great chance for Kobe to win his second MVP. Let’s not forget that he and LBJ were neck and neck until his finger injury, at which time he was shooting a career high from the field. I expect Kobe to have a better regular season than 09-10 and current MVP LBJ to have slightly worse numbers. Although, honestly Kobe is undefeated in the championship round in years in which LBJ wins the MVP and I’d be okay if that trend kept going.

  • kobesBESTfriend Posted: Jun.24 at 11:21 am
    Guaranteed 3-peat with an injury-free shooting hand!!!

  • JACO Posted: Jun.24 at 12:01 pm
    gotta agree wit everyone here. before his broken finger he had a 40 point game every week. this guy is a warrior.

  • Drew Posted: Jun.24 at 12:02 pm
    Co-sign KobesBESTfriend. If he gets that finger taken care of. No one in their right minds will bet against the Lakers next year. Unless the LBJ, Wade, and Bosh join forces, then you have a real challenger there. Anything short of those 3 together on the same team is not going to challenge the Lakers next year.

  • LA Huey Posted: Jun.24 at 12:58 pm
    ’bout damn time. I’m no Kobe/Lakers fan but it’ll be nice to see him operating at full if Phil decides to leave. And if Phil stays, we can book the 3-peat (barring an epic alignment in free-agency)

  • Jackie Moon Posted: Jun.24 at 1:33 pm
    What will Anton’s response be? Going through list: Colorado, White Girls, Shaq, Diamond Ring … can’t think of it, but probably something vulgar to do with his finger.

  • James the Balla Posted: Jun.24 at 2:15 pm
    co-sign Jackie. But I don’t think Anton will be around much. All of the those CAVS Championship Hats came at a cost. I am pretty sure he pawned his computer.

  • G$ Posted: Jun.24 at 2:17 pm
    While he’s under the knife can he have the doc fix that lockjaw issue that seemed to be bothering him throughout the season?

  • Anton Posted: Jun.24 at 2:23 pm
    Unfortunately, doctors cannot remove the jutted jaw.

  • Kap Posted: Jun.24 at 2:54 pm
    Lakers don’t need PJ to repeat

  • How to Jump Higher in Basketball » Blog Archive » Kobe Bryant Set for Finger Surgery Posted: Jun.24 at 3:13 pm
    [...] View post:  Kobe Bryant Set for Finger Surgery [...]

  • Negetivekreep Posted: Jun.24 at 3:14 pm
    Co-sign kap. After reaching the finals 3 straight Seasons, the veterans are ready to hold thier own. Kobe,Pau & Fish, bring enough experience to this team especially after being taken to school by boston on how to play championship D’. All they need is a coach with a calm head down the stretch, someone to manage the ego’s, keep everyone focused. Byron Scott is more than capable of that. Can’t wait to c a healthy Kobe with some spring in his step go for #6 without PJ, something MJ never did.

  • The Philosopher Posted: Jun.24 at 3:32 pm
    Kobe had that knee operated on twice. He’s about to have the finger done. He’s had a shoulder operation. Michael Jordan through his ENTIRE career was NEVER that brittle.

  • Lakers Nation | News From Around the League- June 24, 2010 Posted: Jun.24 at 3:38 pm
    [...] Kobe plans to have surgery on his famous right index-finger. [Slam Magazine] [...]

  • jumpman3224 Posted: Jun.24 at 3:53 pm
    @Philosopher: Two sides of the same coin. MJ may not have been as “brittle” but does that make him less of a warrior because he didn’t have to play through as many injuries/recoveries? Also, Money did have that broken foot and some knee surgery.

  • Kap Posted: Jun.24 at 4:02 pm
    @philosopher…Just ease of Jordans d*ck as well as the “King’s”

  • JL Posted: Jun.24 at 4:10 pm
    MJ’s the man, but Kobe is not brittle. He plays through injuries. Not many players are willing to do that nowadays!

  • Jackie Moon Posted: Jun.24 at 4:20 pm
    @Philosopher MJ didn’t play against the physical defenses that Kobe faced. Also, Kobe did not slice his own finger off with a cigar cutter.

  • jumpman3224 Posted: Jun.24 at 4:26 pm
    Let’s take a moment to revel in the fact that the Lakers won a championship with Kobe playing through this injury. On this site plenty of people, felt like it couldnt happen and that he should mid-season surgery and hope to be back for the playoffs. Hats off to a true champion/warrior.

  • The Philosopher Posted: Jun.24 at 4:45 pm
    I’m just saying that Jordan was a tougher, more durable athlete.
    @Jackie Moon: Jordan played against MORE physical defenses than what Kobe is/was playing against.
    @Kap: YOU LOVE ME.

  • The Philosopher Posted: Jun.24 at 5:00 pm
    Another reason Michael Jordan was a tougher, more durable, and just a better all around athlete… and a better player in general:
    Jordan, throughout his career played a full regular season without any missed games due to injury 9 times, whereas Kobe, only 3 times. 4 times including the lockout season. Fact.

  • Negetivekreep Posted: Jun.24 at 5:03 pm
    @Phil: Jordan was always physically stronger, but you’ve chosen a very poor choice of words to describe Kobe in “brittle”. As well as given Jordan credit were its actually due Kobe. In the history of the game there have only been a handfull of players that have Achieved the type of greatness in thier careers Kobe has already had. That’s Withstanding the serious injuries Kobe has somehow always risen above. There is a big difference between being brittle and playing thru injuries, see: TMac, Greg Oden,Penny and even Grant Hill. These Are all guys who’ve been called “great” or were expected to become great but were/are “brittle”. Even your favorite player although physically stronger has proven less resilient to injury. (elbow) Perhaps Kobes Kobe’s greatest attribute is toughness, (Like Steve Nash) from the mental (eagle colo) to the physical wich was manifest again, perhaps more so than ever this season. It’s likely the reason why seasons wise, not age wise, Kobe is looking like he’ll have more sucess later in his career than MJ. Well just gave to c how long he can keep it up.

  • jumpman3224 Posted: Jun.24 at 5:12 pm
    @Philosopher: You are saying that MJ being injured less often makes him tougher. Isn’t the fact that Kobe had to deal with more injuries make him tougher (albeit less durable).

  • letsmotor Posted: Jun.24 at 5:13 pm
    I don’t want to get into the Kobe vs. MJ debate right now, but “MJ didn’t play against the physical defenses that Kobe faced”?! Hahahaha. Yeah, the Detroit Bad Boys and 90s Knicks were a bunch of softies.

  • pablasso Posted: Jun.24 at 5:19 pm
    @Philosopher: that’s just stupid, i’m not gonna argue that stockton was a tougher, more durable and better all around athlete than jordan just because games missed/played.

  • The Philosopher Posted: Jun.24 at 5:28 pm
    @Jumpman3224: Jordan being injured less often than Kobe makes him tougher than Kobe, for the differences in today’s game as opposed to Michael’s day… I’ll just say that Kobe would have missed even more games due to injury in Michael’s day, In my opinion. Today, Jordan would be considered an iron man. He’d probably would be the career leader in scoring and steals, also. Again, in my opinion.

  • The Philosopher Posted: Jun.24 at 5:31 pm
    @pablasso: Stockton played a different style than Jordan and Kobe. Style of play does matter when it comes down to certain types of injuries.

  • LA Huey Posted: Jun.24 at 5:42 pm
    @Philospher, In my opinion, “durable” and “tough” are different. The more durable you are, the less you are injured. The tougher you are, injuries have less of an impact on whether you play or not.

  • DreJayAre Posted: Jun.24 at 5:45 pm
    Jordan may have played against more physical defenses, arguably, if you have to play man to man D all day, hard fouling in your only deterrent. But this Kobe guy has played 14 straight seasons and 7 Finals appearances, 2 world championships and the Olympics. Non-stop. If Kobe to a sabbatical for 18 months, he might be healthier, but 14 years straight of NBA ball will wear anybody down.

  • The Philosopher Posted: Jun.24 at 5:56 pm
    Numbers don’t lie.

  • nastierthanu Posted: Jun.24 at 6:53 pm
    @philosopher you kill me. U just walk around with a spoon so you can stir any and every kobe pot. taking the summer off and nursing the injuries will rejuvinate kobe and he will play at a higher level no doubt so #6 could be right around the corner but before we get to that. Let’s give credit where credit is due. Shooting a jumper is all about the feel you have on the ball. Please tell me that the shot kobe hit against the very great defense of grant hill off a pump fake wasn’t one of the highest degree of difficulty shots you have ever seen. Plain and simple he has achieved master bruce status. Say what u want he’s all over mike right now and to break you heart mike aint gettin no more rings dog

  • The Philosopher Posted: Jun.24 at 7:00 pm
    ^^ Alright! Alright! I’ll leave Kobe alone. Lol.

  • The Philosopher Posted: Jun.24 at 7:03 pm
    Oh, and that shot Kobe hit over Grant Hill… Michael makes those in his sleep. But again, I’ll get off Kobe.

  • Negetivekreep Posted: Jun.24 at 8:57 pm
    @ Phil, toughness: Kobe>Elbron

  • The Philosopher Posted: Jun.24 at 10:06 pm
    @Negitivekreep: LONG… LIVE… THE KING.

  • Tarzan Cooper Posted: Jun.25 at 1:52 am
    U know whos really the toughest player? Timmy. Hes played whole seasons with various injuries but never lets loose a mumblin word. When kobe wins, my finger was givin me problems but I got thru, im not using it as an excuse. When they lose, we lost, yea my fingers not hunid percent but im not using it as an excuse. All that is whining and makn excuses. Just shut up kobe

  • Jackie Moon Posted: Jun.25 at 11:32 am
    24>(23=23) numbers don’t lie.

  • Jackie Moon Posted: Jun.25 at 4:15 pm
    Please educate yourselves and read : http://20secondtimeout.blogspot.com/2010/06/placing-kobe-bryants-career-in.html

  • jay Posted: Jul.9 at 12:50 am
    glad knee at serious! finger and missing worlds..not cool but hey rather him healthy for season..will still cop the road 10 jersey though..need a new kb jersey..nike of course!!! i dont rock adidas..sorry!

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