The Los Angeles Lakers season likely will be a success or a failure depending on how well Kobe Bryant recovers from his serious Achilles injury and despite the fact that he has been ahead of the curve when it comes to his recovery, his status for the season opener could be in question despite how well he has responded to treatments.
According to Pro Basketball Talk, Bryant spoke about his potential return for the season opener and while he said that his body has been responding to the rehab and that he has been doing well, he still cannot say 100 percent if he will be ready for the opening game of the season. The start of the regular season is still over a month away and that gives Bryant plenty of time to get healthy and get on the court, but that wouldn't be in line with the initial estimates for his recovery.
Bryant said that he is on schedule for his recovery and initially the team thought he could be out for nine months, but now it looks like it will be closer to the lower end of the estimates. Bryant has been working all offseason to get back to full strength and he has been posting numerous videos and posts in regards to his rehab so that fans can follow and he is looking forward to getting back on the court after being unable to help his team in the postseason last year.
Bryant had to watch as his team was swept out of the playoffs by the San Antonio Spurs and he also had to watch as Dwight Howard signed with the Houston Rockets and now the new-look Lakers will try and make it back to the postseason despite losing their All-Star center. The success of the team and the offense likely will be on the back of Bryant and after the way he played last season, if he can get back to full strength, the Lakers should be in good shape.
While most predictions have the team finishing in the bottom half of the west, Bryant has scoffed at those projections and has said that he likes the team that the franchise has put together. The Lakers signed Chris Kaman to help with the loss of Howard and the team also added names like Wes Johnson and Nick Young as well as fan favorite Jordan Farmar. The team also added Elias Harris and there are still moves they could make depending on the roster they want to set heading into the preseason.
The Lakers will open the season against their Staples Center rivals in the LA Clippers and after the "other" team in LA eclipsed the Lakers last season, they are looking to do it again after bringing back Chris Paul and making some big moves, including trading for JJ Redick and they also added Doc Rivers as head coach.
Last season the Lakers finished with a 45-37 record and seventh in the West and they ranked sixth in the league in scoring, but to do that again they will need Bryant at full strength. The team also finished 22nd in points allowed and losing Howard will make improving that number tough, but with Howard gone, it is likely that Pau Gasol will have a better season than he did last year.