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Kobe Bryant expected to miss remainder of 2014-15 season

ByTrisity Miller|
Jan 21, 2015; New Orleans, LA, USA; Los Angeles Lakers guard Kobe Bryant (24) against the New Orleans Pelicans during the first quarter of a game at the Smoothie King Center. The Pelicans defeated the Lakers 96-80. Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle-USA TODAY Sports
Jan 21, 2015; New Orleans, LA, USA; Los Angeles Lakers guard Kobe Bryant (24) against the New Orleans Pelicans during the first quarter of a game at the Smoothie King Center. The Pelicans defeated the Lakers 96-80. Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle-USA TODAY Sports

Los Angeles Lakers superstar Kobe Bryant is expected to miss the rest of the season with a torn rotator cuff.

It looks like we’ve seen the last of Kobe Bryant in 2015 — and maybe for good.

After tearing the rotator cuff in his shooting arm in Wednesday’s loss to the New Orleans Pelicans, the Los Angeles Lakers are expecting the five-time NBA champion in Bryant to miss the remainder of the 2014-15 season, per Ramona Shelburne of ESPN Los Angeles.

Earlier today, it seemed like Bryant was in a good mood, taking to Twitter to express how he felt about the shoulder injury.

There were no guarantees that Bryant would be forced to miss the season (some doctors predicted a 2-4 week rest period if Bryant decided to go without surgery), but with the year all but loss for the Los Angeles Lakers, shutting it down seemed to be the best decision the franchise could make.

Despite averaging 22.3 points per game, Bryant found himself having to adjust the way he played following a decline in athleticism post-achilles injury. Shooting poorly from the field (37% from the field — a career low — and 39 percent from three), Bryant took up the role as a “point-forward”, shifting between scorer and playmaker when needed, averaging 5.6 assist and 5.7 rebounds.

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Unfortunately, Bryant’s play coupled with the lack of overall talent on the Lakers roster and borderline-horrific coaching from Byron Scott has led to one of the worst seasons in the Lakers storied franchise history. As of now, the Lakers are 12-31, good for the second worst record in the Western Conference and the worst year by a Kobe Bryant-led Lakers team.

While not having Bryant likely doesn’t increase the teams ability to improve on the season, there’s a bright side in all of this (unless the Lakers pull together without the superstar): if the Lakers finish with a bottom-five record in the NBA, the chances of them keeping their 2015 first-round pick increases heavily — if the Lakers earn any lottery pick above the fifth, the Lakers’ pick goes to the Phoenix Suns. With studs in Jahlil Okafor, Karl Towns and others expected to enter the ’15 draft, a top-5 pick could be the beginning of a rebuild that could lead the Lakers to success in the post-Kobe Bryant years.

Speaking of “post-Kobe Bryant years”, with Bryant ending his “comeback campaign” with another injury, there will be lots of talk of what the future Hall of Famer does next season as retirement will surely be an option. If Bryant does return, he’ll be owed $25 million from the Lakers in the final year of the extension signed last season.

If this is the end of Bryant, it’ll have been a great run for the second best shooting guard of all-time: 5 NBA championships, a league MVP, 2 Finals MVP’s, the notorious 81-point game, third all-time scorer in league history, etc. — that’s one heck of a resume.

For legacy sakes, hopefully Bryant can keep a clean bill of health for the 2015-16  season and like the MLB did with Derek Jeter, the NBA can send off one of it’s most successful stars off in style.

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