Kobe Bryant back on court, but rustiness shows in loss to Raptors
Superstar gave himself an 'F' after starting his 18th NBA season with eight turnovers to Toronto
The first point in the career of the superstar reborn came like the last one had: at the free-throw line. But the rest of Kobe Bryant’s season debut betrayed that symbolic continuity.
The eight months since he ruptured his left Achilles tendon tested Bryant in new ways. Gruelling workout sessions, multiple times a day, anchored the regimen.
But perhaps even more challenging for the driven superstar, was the patience.
“I think the last time I had eight months off,” he said. “I was still in the womb. It felt good to get out there.”
But when he finally stepped onto the court – ushered in during introductions to The Imperial March from Star Wars – the rust showed. The Achilles tendon was healed, back to its old self. But how about Bryant?
The last time I had eight months off. I was still in the womb. It felt good to get out there
Asked to grade his performance in a 106-94 loss to the Toronto Raptors, the notoriously critical superstar gave himself an “F” before a reporter could even finish the question.
He finished with nine points in 28 minutes, but shot just 2 of 9 from the field. Eight turnovers, of the Lakers’ 19, will particularly eat at Bryant, who said he intended to watch film all night.
He added eight rebounds and four assists as it was once again the Lakers bench – 19 points from Nick Young, 17 from Xavier Henry – who rallied the Lakers and kept the game close, 73-69, going into the fourth quarter.
Bryant said he felt healthy and explosive, but added, “I don’t feel normal at all.”
There is still weight to be lost, he said, despite being at 8 per cent body fat, and he still needs to find his game legs. But it is all part of the process he began on April 12, when he ruptured the tendon at Golden State then stepped to the free-throw line to make two shots.
“It’s going to take a while,” Coach Mike D’Antoni said. “There’s no way you can do that. I know everybody thought he could, but there’s no way you can go eight months and not have a training camp and come out and be in midseason form.”
That will take time. Something the 35-year-old Bryant, who has signed on for two more years with the Lakers, has shown a commitment to.
