Kobe Bryant says knee is at 60 per cent
Kobe Bryant said it might be a while before his surgically repaired right knee returns to full strength.
"I'm probably about 60 per cent," Bryant told the media after his Los Angeles Lakers played an exhibition game in London, England on Monday night.
Bryant underwent surgery on the knee in late July, not long after the Lakers beat the Boston Celtics for their second straight NBA title. He was having issues with the knee throughout the play-offs, forcing
him to have it drained in the first round against the Oklahoma City Thunder. In his first open comments about how much pain he was feeling in his run to a fifth NBA title, Bryant said draining the knee helped but did not completely remove the pain.
"I drained my knee, and all of a sudden reeling off 30-point games like they're 10-point games and everybody said how young I looked," Bryant said. "I was hurt."
"During the NBA Finals, it was extremely, extremely, extremely painful," he added. "Now, not so much."
As the Lakers begin their quest for their second three-peat of the decade, fans of the team will be hoping for Bryant's knee to make a speedy recovery. Bryant’s condition becomes that much more important
with the recent injury woes of centre Andrew Bynum, who may not play until December. Lakers coach Phil Jackson has said he doesn't expect Bryant's knee to fully recover until about two weeks into the regular season.
The Lakers were playing the Minnesota Timberwolves in London as part of NBA Europe Live. Bryant said that if the game was in the U.S., he wouldn’t have played at all. But because of the paying fans who
mostly came to see Bryant, he did play the first six minutes of the game. Chants of “Kobe” from the crowd during the second half were not enough to draw Bryant back in.
"I wanted to get up [off the bench] and get in, but ... the shoes were unlaced, ice on the knees, knees were frozen and at that point I couldn't get back in," he said.
The Lakers travel to Spain on Thursday for a match against FC Barcelona. Unfortunately for the Spanish fans in attendance, Bryant won’t play much.
"Minimum," he said. "It will be the same thing -- minimum."
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