The Los Angeles Lakers are officially on their way back, well it may not look like it but they’re taking the necessary steps towards getting back to where the Lakers naturally belong, in contention for the NBA Championship.
But now they have to not just prepare to rise again, they have to prepare for life without Kobe Bryant. Lakers GM Mitch Kupchak has said today that Kobe hinted that this upcoming season might be his last.
“He has indicated to me that this is it,” Kupchak said Thursday in a radio appearance with SiriusXM NBA Radio.
“I think first and foremost, he’s on the last year of a deal,” Kupchak told SiriusXM NBA Radio. “There have been no discussions about anything going forward. I don’t think there will be.”
“A year from now, if there’s something different to discuss, then it will be discussed then,” Kupchak said of Bryant potentially playing beyond next season. “I talk to him from time to time … and he is recovering. He’s running. He’s getting movement and strength in the shoulder. We expect a full recovery, but yeah, he’s much closer to the end than to the beginning.“
Now this talk has happened before, it’s a carousel that Kupchak and Kobe have been round a few times now as David Aldridge wrote last year.
“He has challenges every year,” Lakers general manager Mitch Kupchak said Monday morning. “I think his challenge in years past was solely on winning the championship. I think the last year or two, that has not changed, But because of the injuries to his knee and Achilles, that also turns into a formidable challenge. Yeah, I want to win a championship, but I’ve also had two major injuries. Can I get back to playing at a high level at my age? I think that’s a challenge that fuels him as well. He’s never been about one game or one week. I think as far as trying to continue to win, I think he’s challenged to show that he can recover from his injuries and play at a high level. Some of this is beyond his control.“
This is why I find Kobe fascinating on top of the obvious stuff, the fact that he gains more challenges as he ages but always keeps that famous, tunnel vision mindset he possesses.
Expect all these occasional chats between Kupchak and Kobe to continue throughout the season. Whether Kobe retires remains to be seen.
