Jeanie Buss wants Kobe Bryant to be “Laker for life”
By Chase Ruttig
Kobe Bryant’s status for the 2013/14 season and for the rest of his career is in question after an Achilles tear sent him down for the playoffs and has geared up a long rehab session for the Black Mamba. With Dwight Howard skipping town for the Rockets and Ron Artest receiving the amnesty from the Lakers, there has been a lot of uncertainty surrounding the Staples Center this summer.
Jeanie Buss wants her star asset in Kobe to know two things: She thinks that he should take his time in healing up to 100% and that he should be a Los Angeles Laker for life.
“I want Kobe to take the time that he needs to get healthy,” Buss said Thursday in a radio interview with ESPNLA 710. “I don’t want to see him come back any sooner than when he’s ready, and I know he’ll know when that is. There’s no reason for him to do anything that compromises his health.”
When asked by ESPNLosAngeles.com to expand on that comment, Buss said, “Kobe is part of the Laker family and he always will be. There’s not many players who play 18-19 years with the same franchise, and it’s important to us that he has a chance to play his entire career with the Lakers.”
It is no surprise that the Lakers want to ensure that Kobe is actually ready to come back when he does decide to return from his injury. Being a world class competitor who wants to win at all costs, it appears that Jeanie Buss naturally fears that Kobe will come back too soon, something that would potential risk the final years of the Mamba’s career if he was to reinjure that Achilles.
One of the Buss family members wants to see Kobe Bryant retire a Laker, to do so, she hopes that the Black Mamba protects himself by waiting until he is fully healed to return to the hardwood. After all, he is the Buss family’s priciest investment.