Kobe Bryant Says he has almost no Cartilage in his Knee

X-Factor · Post #1 » by **X-Factor** » Fri Jan 7, 2011 4:06 pm

http://www.nypost.com/p/sports/more_spo ... z1AMhC2VHI

Bryant has undergone three operations on that same knee, one this past offseason, after having it drained several times during last year’s playoffs.

“Until I got it drained the first time during the opening round against the Thunder I could not bend that knee at all,” he revealed. “It was swollen as hell and it hurt like hell. Luckily things got a lot better once I had the procedure.”

Kobe is 32. This is his 15th season. Including the regular season, the after-party and All-Star Games, he has played a total of 46,660 minutes.

“I have four seasons left on my contract,” said Bryant, the league’s highest paid entertainer at $24,806,250. Averaging 25.1 points this year (No. 4, overall), he became No. 12 (26,695) in scoring all-time (combined NBA-ABA) by passing Dominique Wilkins. Oscar Robertson, Hakeem Olajuwon, Elvin Hayes and Dan Issel are well within this season’s sights.

“You know how competitive and combative I am on the court,” he said. “There’s nothing I like better than to practice. In fact, I like practice more than the games, because I get to go at my teammates hard. That’s when you find out what they’re made of, how much you can push some to get the most out of ’em, and how you have to back off others so you don’t lose ’em. “So, in order to protect my knee and avoid a situation like last year, we decided before the season to sacrifice the team’s intensity by minimizing wear and tear as much as possible.”

“What can I do that I’m not already doing?” he said. “I’ve increased treatment before and after I play, but there’s no way of knowing what’s going on under there unless I take an MRI once month.

“I feel it’s up to me to take the team to where we want to go and still believe we will go. No question about that! I’m not about to make claims I’ll have to back off on later on. I’m a clear thinker. I truly believe we have the pieces and personalities to three-peat.

“When do I push them? When do I pat them on the back? Every individual is different. Some players you finesse. Some you contest. It’s a constant dance. It’s a constant search of the perfect rhythm.

Imadogg · Post #2 » by **Imadogg** » Fri Jan 7, 2011 4:09 pm

Didn't see you mention the main part in that excerpt but here it is from the link:

Because I have very little cartilage under my right knee cap, it’s almost bone on bone.

Ouch.

The59Sound · Post #3 » by **The59Sound** » Fri Jan 7, 2011 4:13 pm

I hope it's not too painful for him when he hits 35, 36. As a Jazz fan, I remember Hornacek having some bone-on-bone issues, and though he didn't talk about it much, you could see how much it seemed to hurt some games.

Gonna be a sad day when Kobe finally retires. Unlike LeBron, who I just loathe as a human being, Kobe is a great "I love to hate you because you're too damn good" villain.

Post #4 » by **Flash3** » Fri Jan 7, 2011 4:14 pm

How is this any different than Brandon Roy's case or is it not?

The59Sound · Post #5 » by **The59Sound** » Fri Jan 7, 2011 4:15 pm

Flash3 wrote:How is this any different than Brandon Roy's case or is it not?

Kobe's still playing at a high level. That's different.

kasino · Post #6 » by **kasino** » Fri Jan 7, 2011 4:18 pm

no pain no gain

ikidunot · Post #7 » by **ikidunot** » Fri Jan 7, 2011 4:25 pm

Damn Kobe. Smh, it's almost over. :cry:

ropjhk · Post #8 » by **ropjhk** » Fri Jan 7, 2011 4:27 pm

Flash3 wrote:How is this any different than Brandon Roy's case or is it not?

It doesn't sound much different at all, except that Kobe is in the later stages of his career and Roy is in the early stages of his.

Dr Pepper · Post #9 » by **Dr Pepper** » Fri Jan 7, 2011 4:58 pm

I thought Roy had his meniscus/cartilage removed entirely whereas Bryant seems to have had different surgeries since he still has some IIRC.

Bone on bone does suck though. Where you can really see Kobe's decline is on the defensive end imo. Its going to be interesting to see how the new Lakers coach will try and manage Bryant's role/minutes as he enters his twilight years and how Bryant's own ego handles it too.

ClarenceDerozan · Post #10 » by **ClarenceDerozan** » Fri Jan 7, 2011 5:17 pm

Tough it out for this season Kobe, win your 6th ring, and retire on a good note.

YFZblu · Post #11 » by **YFZblu** » Fri Jan 7, 2011 5:30 pm

What do you guys think? If Microfracture was an option, would Kobe have the procedure within the next couple of years, or would he retire?

druggas · Post #12 » by **druggas** » Fri Jan 7, 2011 5:38 pm

Everything wears out eventually.

J~Rush · Post #13 » by **J~Rush** » Fri Jan 7, 2011 5:41 pm

Flash3 wrote:How is this any different than Brandon Roy's case or is it not?

I don't think Roy has any cartilage. Kobe only has a little left.

Sh0t · Post #14 » by **Sh0t** » Fri Jan 7, 2011 5:43 pm

I hope Kobe retires before he hurts himself. Time to head into the Lakers front office or open a basketball camp.

countryboi · Post #15 » by **countryboi** » Fri Jan 7, 2011 5:46 pm

sounds like the end is near....the knee is not going to do anything but get worse and worse plus he as been in the league 15 seasons

droponov · Post #16 » by **droponov** » Fri Jan 7, 2011 5:49 pm

J~Rush wrote:
Flash3 wrote:How is this any different than Brandon Roy's case or is it not?

I don't think Roy has any cartilage. Kobe only has a little left.

That's nosense. "Bone to bone" is an over-simplification.

droponov · Post #17 » by **droponov** » Fri Jan 7, 2011 5:52 pm

I don't believe any of this. Kobe has a tendency to dramatize his own injuries. To play the "tough man" role and to bring injuries out of nowhere when he's underperforming.

Nobody loses that amount of meniscus without good reason. It's just medically impossible.

Framework · Post #18 » by **Framework** » Fri Jan 7, 2011 5:53 pm

Dam does this guy go a week without complaining? From fingers to hand, it never ends with Kobe.

Shot Clock · Post #19 » by **Shot Clock** » Fri Jan 7, 2011 6:03 pm

Framework wrote:Dam does this guy go a week without complaining? From fingers to hand, it never ends with Kobe.

He drops the bait in the water, knowing his fans will use it whenever his game goes south, usually follows it up with something like 'well you know me a little pain isn't going to stop me'

Funny thing in this article is the "I love practice" quote when it's coming out he's been skipping practice all year and only recently started practicing with the team.

http://blogs.hoopshype.com/blogs/lazenb ... es-lakers/

The coach and player agreed that due to the surgery and Bryant’s years of competing so hard, the star should carry a reduced load this season.

In Jackson’s mind, that meant curbing Bryant’s minutes on the floor during the regular season games.

In Bryant’s mind, that meant he wouldn’t practice much, or at all.

And so he didn’t. According to sources, Bryant spent the first months of the season lifting weights and shooting but doing no actual practicing with the team.

“Phil was surprised that Kobe wasn’t practicing,” explained an observer.

Surprised as he was, Jackson said nothing to Bryant because the highly successful coach would never actually stoop to that. “Phil’s not gonna ask anybody to do anything,” the observer said. “Phil prides himself on never having a confrontation.”

Dreamz · Post #20 » by **Dreamz** » Fri Jan 7, 2011 6:03 pm

Flash3 wrote:How is this any different than Brandon Roy's case or is it not?

If I remember right, it was both knees for Roy. And I would assume Kobe's injury is from logging so many minutes over the years, while Roy's just seem to be an unfortunate event cause by a prior injury or something like that.