Kobe declares season over with 'probable' torn Achilles
All-star guard scores 34 points but feels a 'pop' as the Lakers keep their play-off hopes alive
Kobe Bryant declared his season over after scoring 34 points before leaving the game with a likely torn Achilles tendon, as the Los Angeles Lakers kept their play-off hopes alive with a 118-116 win over Golden State.
Bryant said he felt a "pop" as he tried to beat Harrison Barnes to the outside with just over three minutes left in the fourth quarter of their tight NBA contest.
"I felt like I got kicked. It is a move I make a million times and pop," Bryant said. "Just a freak situation I guess."
Lakers spokesman John Black said after the game that Bryant had a "probable torn Achilles".
"Bryant will undergo an MRI examination tomorrow to confirm the diagnosis," Black said.
The all-star guard and future Hall of Famer went one further insisting he already knows the extent of the injury and his season is over.
"I can't walk. I tried to put pressure on my heel to see if I can do it that way and there is nothing there," Bryant said. "I had no Achilles, that is the sensation. MRI, surgery and then recovery."