Kobe Bryant made his return to the Los Angeles Lakers Monday night, starting for the team in its preseason opener against the Denver Nuggets in San Diego.
After missing the 2013 playoffs and all but six games in 2013-14 with Achilles and knee injuries, Kobe Bryant is still in the NBA and we have proof.
Bryant got the ball, backed down Arron Afflalo of the Denver Nuggets and made his first basket of the preseason Monday night as the Los Angeles Lakers and the Nuggets opened the preseason at the Valley View Casino Center in San Diego.
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Kobe averaged 13.8 points, 6.3 assists, 4.3 rebounds and 1.2 steals in six games last season, playing 29.5 minutes per game and shooting .425/.188/.857.
He was coming back from a torn Achilles he sustained April 12, 2013, late in a game against the Golden State Warriors at Staples Center in Los Angeles.
He returned on Dec. 8 last year against the Toronto Raptors and played in six straight games before sustaining a fracture of the lateral tibial plateau—the bone at the top of the shin that connects to the knee.
Initially diagnosed to miss six weeks, he wound up sitting out the rest of the Lakers’ 27-55 season—their worst since moving to Los Angeles from Minneapolis in 1960.
Bryant can still score—a pretty big deal for a guy who is 36 years old and coming off an injury (the Achilles) that ended the careers of many players, including Hall of Famer Isiah Thomas.
But it still remains to be seen whether he will be the Black Mamba of old or just an old version of the Black Mamba.