Kobe Bryant Injury

Kobe Bryant played in all of six games before getting hit with another major injury. After fracturing a bone in his left knee, he’ll be out for six weeks. This is awful news for him and for basketball fans everywhere — it’s never good when one of the greatest players of all time gets hurt —but it gives the Lakers a chance to get back to what they were supposed to be doing this season: gunning for Andrew Wiggins or Jabari Parker.

When Bryant signed his two-year, $48 million contract extension in November, he made sure to point out that the Lakers still had room to sign another max-level star. But LeBron James isn’t coming to LA, and Carmelo Anthony won’t leave the money he has on the table in New York. The Lakers’ best way forward is to find a true successor to Kobe, someone who will make them a contender after he’s gone.


The Lakers aren’t going to make the playoffs this season. That was true with or without Kobe Bryant in the lineup. The Western Conference is too deep and the Lakers are relying too much on unproven talent to have a realistic chance of being competitive.

The solution: let Nick Young take over the offense and reach his full Swagtime potential, as he is in this video the Lakers posted shortly after announcing Kobe’s injury:

Not only will the rest of this season be more entertaining, but it will put the Lakers in a great position to land one of the top picks in the draft. Pair an aging Kobe with another established, high-priced player like Anthony or Rudy Gay and the Lakers still won’t have enough to fill out the rest of a contending roster. Set him up with a successor like Wiggins and they’re in great shape for the next decade.

For the Lakers, Kobe’s injury is a major setback, but it also provides a clear way forward.

via : USA TODAY