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Report: MRI Reveals Torn Right Rotator Cuff for Kobe

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The Lakers don’t have an injury bug, they have an injury parasite that eats away at their innards like a ravenous zombie in the Walking Dead.

After completing a basic two-handed dunk after a nice drive baseline in the third quarter of Wednesday’s loss to the Pelicans, Kobe ran up court with a bit of a grimace and held his right shoulder. He’d later return to the game, only to play almost exclusively with his left hand — even attempting some shots southpaw — exiting with a little over a minute left to play in the game. He headed straight to the locker room to receive treatment.

After the game, the Lakers said that Kobe would receive an MRI on the joint while Kobe himself almost blew off the injury entirely. He said he’d fly to San Antonio, get in his regular routine, and go from there. Well, it turns out it’s a bit more serious than that.

Per a report from ESPN, Kobe will fly back to Los Angeles today to see a team physician. After that an update will be given that, hopefully, reveals how severe the tear is and how long he might be out of action. Until then, wish good thoughts for Kobe. After all, the Lakers were bad with him playing and will continue to be bad without him. But I hate to see Kobe on the shelf again, injured, with real questions about recovery times and what this means for his basketball future pushed to the forefront another time.


Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Robert says

    Wow – this is horrible. So the ASG is now doubtful, the rest of the season is questionable/doubtful (leaning towards doubtful), and now this puts a bigger convo front and center. And please reference the previous posts before someone brings up the salary cap thing. The quick answer is no – we are not getting the money back.

    Aaron: Are you out there to diagnose this from afar? You seem better able to do that then our than our team doctor’s at times.

    This could be rock bottom (Renato – was just not expecting it this quickly).

  3. Lakafan says

    Man another injury to the Black Mamba!…. and the craziest part about this is that the clueless incompetent BS put him back in the game with 5 minutes to go down 13 when everyone could see his arm was dangling by his side and they had just put a huge ice pack on his shoulder…. Please get rid of this joker!!

  4. tankyou says

    Kobe will not being playing in the All-star game. Even fairly minor Rotator cuff tears typically require 6-8weeks recovery time. Even after that you would typically be dealing with at least minor pain for months. A major tear for a pro athlete is a big deal. Typically surgery recovery time is going to be 1 year, plus whatever time you need to start doing training for your specific sport. It’s on his shooting arm, so that makes it even worse.

    So if it’s very minor he may be back at the end of the season. If its a decent tear, he’s out for the season, and again if it requires surgery he’s done for 2015, and maybe even most of the 2016 season. So this is potentially a huge deal, not merely a shake it off if a few weeks type injury.

  5. Ryan says

    Average front runner laker fan: “Yes this is great news, now we can get playing time for all the scrubs on our bench, embrace true team ball like the spurs and make a run at the 8 seed!!!!!”

  6. Baylor Fan says

    It is not clear from Kobe’s comments whether or not he was already hurting before the dunk. He said his shoulder was bothering him and it sounds like he meant before he tried the dunk. Kobe will do his best to play again but in the meantime we will see what life after Kobe is like.

  7. Calvin Chang says

    Laker games without Kobe will be bad. Kobe’s the closer. The rest of the team can keep the games close. But in the last 5 minutes when the game starts slowing down and defenses start tightening up, you need your closer to create winning plays. Kobe is the best Lakers closer.

  8. Robert says

    This shoulder has had a bad history. He hurt it against the T-wolves in 2003 and then again in 2004 with one of the best slam dunks in playoff history over Kevin Garnett.

  9. T. Rogers says

    I hope Kobe can come back and play (and win) at Staples Center one more time this season. I’d hate to think that game in New Orleans was his last. In the off season I hope he considers retirement. Its agonizing for us fans to watch him struggle with a bad team and with injuries. It has to be 10x as agonizing for him. Kobe is a legend. No one can take that away from him. Maybe its time he start thinking of life after basketball. There is no point in damaging his body further for a team that has no chance of doing anything of note over the next year and a half.

  10. BigCitySid says

    -Another sad day in the NBA in general, and Laker Nation in particular.

    -No clue, but if this is considered a “minor tear”, no surgery, one of those “6 to 8 weeks” types of injuries I can’t see a reason for him returning this season.

  12. Sald0gg says

    Kobe deserved better. His toughness and fighting through everything for 17 years finally caught up to him. It’s a sad day…

  13. KenOak says

    Tough injury for the Mamba and bad news for LakersNation. I hope Kobe shuts it down for the rest of the year and then comes back next year to play with the 2 rookies -> Randle and our draft pick. Could be a fun team next year.

  14. Paula Cavy says

    This is a very sad day for Kobe and the Lakers and for me. I started watching basketball because of Kobe. I don’t think I will continue to watch basketball. I was so hoping he would get that 6th ring that he wanted so badly and I wanted to see that too. But it looks awfully grim now that this has happened. My prayers are with him and his beautiful family and still hope for the best for him. Thanks Kobe for a great 19 yrs. In my eyes you are still the G O A T.

  15. tankyou says

    I don’t care how “tough” Kobe is if this rotator tear is anything more than a small tear–he’s out for 2 months bare minimum. If it’s bad enough to require surgery, no way he can play, and it would be stupid to do so. Patty Mills tore his R-Cuff and at age 26 it took him 6months to recover and start playing again–which is actually fast. Best case scenario is he plays again by the end of March, or later. Worst case is its severe enough to require surgery and he will be spending the next 9 months resting and doing rehab and likely would miss training camp/preseason. And doing all the stretching and rotator exercises and rubber band stuff takes a long time to develop real rotation and strength again for most people–especially older people like Kobe. But I suppose we will find out Friday the severity of the tear. But can’t imagine him playing in the ASG under even the most mild of scenarios.

  16. TeamN says

    Darius,

    An apt metaphor — I’ve never seen a three to four year run of injuries like this on any team in any sport.

    What an insane situation. With all the moving parts — ownership, roster, CBA, injuries — its been a torturous few years.

    Time for the worm to turn.

  17. R says

    I hate to say it or even think it but I hope he retires.
    What’s the point of punishing his body further?
    I think he can succeed in other endeavors, with his unbelievable drive and other skills.

  18. Chris J says

    I’m still shaking my head over so many people who give a crap if the guy can play in the All-Star Game. Why is that important?

    “An apt metaphor — I’ve never seen a three to four year run of injuries like this on any team in any sport.” — Quite true.

  19. lil pau says

    Wow… Is Andrew Goudelock still on the team?

    So sad for Kobe and, selfishly/frankly, for all of us who love to watch him play. Was it really this season that I thought Xavier Henry might be a difference-maker and I looked forward to seeing a healthy Nash at last?

    Terrible news– the notion of ‘they’ll have to drag me off the court’ sounds a lot better than it looks, I suppose… Injuries happen, and I usually reset the idea that they are anyone’s fault, but this time – for the first time, perhaps – I agree with the criticism of BScott for playing Kobe when he obviously wasn’t right. Still, likely the damage was already done by that point…

    This season has been one long ‘waiting for the nadir’. Well, I guess it’s here at last.

    The Lakers are dead. Long live the Lakers..

  20. George says

    Kobe deserves much better than this. I sense, regardless of the severity of the injury, that he will be shut down for the rest of the year. Better to come back next season healed and rested.

    Who knows, maybe we get lucky in the draft and Love opts out and signs w/ the Lakers. A core of Randle, top 5 pick, Love plus other moves can give Kobe the proper send off.

  21. J C says

    Kobe will be back next year to give it his all, one more time.
    I really hope he has a chance to go out on his own terms.
    He deserves it.

  22. Ko says

    Well looking for a bright spot with Kobe gone for the season.

    Players like Lin, Ckarkson etc now have no excuses and won’t be looking over their shoulder. And the coach can’t overplay and drive anyone into injury that matters.

    As for the FO maybe they can see the folly of their ways spending $35 million in players like Kobe and Nash on the end of their careers.

    Interesting to see what rating will be the rest of the season and if the place takes a hit in attendance.

    Hopefully Scott or Mitch will throw in the Price, Johnson towell and give the young guys a chance if any are worth keeping.

    Finally the team is a chance to have their worst record in history and at least end up bottom three. Wonder if that Forbes evaluation of $2.70 billion gets revised.

  23. Robert says

    Paula Cavy: Nice post. Hang in there
    TeamN: “Time for the worm to turn.” Unfortunately – I think it has. We have drawn almost all aces for 6+ decades. The rest of the league has been waiting for our luck to turn.
    Chris J: With regard to the ASG comment: Are you aware of any of our remaining games that have huge importance this year? : )
    Kobe: Wow – I have posted a number of times prior to this injury about how slippery the “shut it down” convo is. Look at this thread. We already have a bunch of “shut it downs” and a number of “go ahead and retire”.
    Left Handed Shot: rr sent me a vine link to the left handed shot. It occurred to me that it is possible that this could be his last shot. Hopefully not, but it could be. And what a shot it was. It was a double teamed, turn around, fadeaway, left hander. Wow.

  24. Baylor Fan says

    In response to Darius, Kobe going out on his own terms is going out due to injury. Anything less would mean he still had more basketball in him. At worst, he will be back next season, eventually, and hopefully not trying to dunk.

  26. Chris J says

    Chris J: With regard to the ASG comment: Are you aware of any of our remaining games that have huge importance this year? : )

    ———–
    No. Nor am I aware of any games that were important this season. I enjoyed seeing Kobe pass Jordan on the scoring list, and I had hoped to watch Randle develop this season. Beyond that, I really didn’t have any solid expectations for the team this year aside from hoping they’d compete and help set the stage for the inevitable rebuild by showing which players may be keepers and which ones they can set aside.

    I’d sincerely hope that now, finally, Byron would give some minutes to Clarkson and Kelly, to see if there’s a future in them. There’s no reason not to — even the most-optimistic fans would concede that now.

  27. BigCitySid says

    -For those wondering: “The deadline to apply to the NBA for a disabled-player exception passed on Jan. 15, so the Lakers won’t get roster relief from the injury if Bryant’s season is over”. Baxter Holmes and Ramona Shelburne

  28. Mid-Wilshire says

    I’m so sorry for Kobe…and for the team as a whole. This latest injury must be devastating to all concerned. However, I sense that if Kobe can return, he will. He always seems especially driven by nay-sayers of which there will be plenty in the next few months.

    This may be the basketball gods’ way of saying that it’s time to begin developing our young talent such as Jordan Clarkson. There’s a big difference between going against NBAers in practice and playing against them in an actual game.

    I sense that Clarkson has a real future. How much of a future is difficult to say. I simply have to see more of him. But the time for Clarkson to play consistent minutes, it appears, has arrived. He will make mistakes, no doubt, but that’s OK. All rookies do. To play Clarkson (and, when healthy, Tarik Black) will be the equivalent of investing in the future. I only wish that Julius Randle were healthy as well.

    In any event, the future starts now.

    Meanwhile, I wish the Black Mamba a speedy recovery.

  29. drrayeye says

    Another injury to Kobe is very sad–but not surprising or unexpected. Unfortunately, the Lakers are not yet at a turnaround point. There’s still a way to go. The flimsy plan management might have had for the next few years just got flimsier.

    It’s time for Jimmy (and Jeanie and Mitch) to take long walks along the beach at night . . . ;.

    Ray

  30. Hale says

    Now that he’s injured I’m hoping Byron can keep Kobe’s minutes down.

    Only good news today is that Boston & Utah won while the Spurs lost.

  31. Renato Afonso says

    Yep, rock bottom. Let’s see how long we stay there. Nothing else to see this season…

  32. tankyou says

    Time to move Lin & Clarkson into the starting unit and give them some minutes. Let Clarkson learn as a 2 guard where he won’t have near as much responsibility on offense/or defense. Lin can be the shot creator for the 1st unit, since they basically had none when Kobe wasn’t playing.

    Second unit can have Price/Ellington, with Swaggy as the shot creator for himself (not like he really helps create for others).

    Let Lin and Ed Davis do some PnR’s and have their stats boost up and then look at some trade possibilities for Lin/Hill in the next couple weeks. Worst case, you start actually developing Clarkson but in a position where he won’t have a lot of responsibility. It could provide some entertainment because Lin/Clarkson seem to be our two quickest players and they could actually bring some pace to the 1st unit and run some breaks with Davis for some dunks. So at least we could be a bit more entertained while we lose most of our games. The slow as hell walk the ball up the court to watch Hill shoot set shots isn’t going to be fun. Ed Davis is a great player as long as other guys set him up for layups and dunks and will do well with Lin again if they actually play together. After all of that, I will start watching other teams play more and more, since I enjoy Basketball more than I enjoy just watching the Lakers. At this point we should just count a game a success if someone doesn’t get hurt, I thought the last couple years were injuryfests, but wow. Soon the only people we will have playing will be guys that can only use one arm, are wearing masks, and hobbling around on ankles that aren’t fully healed.

  34. Craig W. says

    It is now being reported Kobe first injured the shoulder in training camp, but was able to play with it until Wednesday. If that is true it might explain some of the horrible shooting games Kobe has had this year – along with increased double-teaming and aging legs. Also, it might argue for Kobe coming back next year with a better shot and more tempered view of what he can do for this team.

  36. J C says

    Anyone know who’s gonna be available and attractive in the top five picks besides Okafor?
    Clearly we’re a virtual lock to keep the pick now.
    Next year may look like this:
    Kobe, Randle, top 5 pick, Davis, and at least one FA – (Dragic?)
    Then we’ll have the Houston pick (Lin trade).
    Maybe Jordan Hill. And Clarkson.
    That doesn’t sound too bad!
    Hate to say it but as tankyou said above, there is some great basketball to watch in the Association. Just not this team, this year.

  37. Chearn says

    Left Handed Shot: rr sent me a vine link to the left handed shot. It occurred to me that it is possible that this could be his last shot. Hopefully not, but it could be. And what a shot it was. It was a double teamed, turn around, fadeaway, left hander. Wow.

    Worth repeating!

    Robert, I for one, hope that Kobe dons his ASG uniform and starts even for a few minutes to garner another well-deserved appearance.

    The game ending free throws against Golden State when he tore his Achilles was chilling in light of the ramifications. His left-handed turnaround jumper with lift epitomized what distinguishes Kobe Bean Bryant from other candidates for the G.O.A.T dialogues. Based on Kobe’s age both injuries are considered career ending. Hollywood screenwriters could not imagine a more fitting epilogue.
    No doubt, if possible, Kobe will honor his contract in some capacity this year. I for one hope that he continues tutelage of Clarkson, Wes, and Randle. Unlike D’Antoni, Byron may welcome his presence on the bench.

    Thanks to all the long time posters presence on this blog, it is refreshing to hear from those that revelled in no. 8 and no. 24 affectionately known as the Mamba.

  38. Anonymous says

    so darius: this may not be a career ending injury but may be an injury leading to an end of a career and since this season and for that matter the forseeable future looks bleak; we again are reminded and resigned with hope as our current and primarily sole positive focus for laker nation.

    so here are a few positive hopeful notions of the day:

    – that kobe announce that he will try to make a comeback later this season after and only he and doctors deem fit to resume play
    – that coach scott resign himself to feature and develop the younger players on the team
    – that jim buss seriously consider recanting his statement of putting himself on the line
    – that the buss family seriously consider the future of laker nation

    with these hopeful notions, i can forsee laker nation string of bad luck changing sooner rather than 3 to 4 years from last year…..

    Go lakers

  39. Todd says

    As with so many things – life can be unbelievably unfair. This is truly sad news relating to Kobe.

    I can remember watching Kobe during the 2000-2002 three-peat years. Kobe was just unworldly. I specifically recall turning to my wife, during a particular playoff game where Kobe was killing it, and telling her, “I’m so glad he’s ours”. We truly have been fortunate to have such a talent like Kobe in a Lakers’ uniform.

    While we don’t know the extent of the injury it’s likely safe to assume that Kobe is done for the year. If Kobe comes back next year, he has to be looked at as a complementary player as opposed to being the focal point of the team. The ultimate downside is that major surgery puts Kobe’s career in jeopardy. Lakers’ management has to look at the future without Kobe and that reality is staring them in the face. If the FO wasn’t viewing this year’s draft pick as critical they should be now. The remaining roster is bad but may not be bad enough to secure one of the three worst records. The logical conclusion is to sell off what we can. However, Darius pointed out that this may be more of a challenge than we all thought since our best assets Davis, Hill and Lin have contracts with built in various ‘poison pills’.

    It will be interesting to see what the FO does. Maybe they do nothing and still manage to lose enough to keep their pick. The likelihood is that the selection will be a front court player (ESPN has 7 of the top 10 players projected in the draft to be centers or power forwards). Julius Randle (power forward) should be healthy and ready to prove his worth. There are some nice pieces available on the FA market this summer, Greg Monroe (a center/power forward) and Reggie Jackson (pg). Who knows maybe Kevin Love (power forward) opts out and becomes available. If the Lakers’ get Okafor in the draft then it’s possible that Monroe is not necessary. Maybe the FO decides that Lance Stephenson and his top 25 player talent is worth the risk and takes him off of Charlotte’s hands. In other words there are lots of moving parts if the FO is willing to be active.

    Whatever the Lakers do I hope they focus on acquiring younger players. While Marc Gasol is tempting (assuming that the way we jerked around Pau hasn’t jaded him) he is 30 years old. Even if the Lakers assemble a great nucleus this summer they will still need 2 plus years to learn how to win together. Better to select players that have windows longer than the length of a max FA contract.

  40. LKK says

    There are reports out there that Kobe first injured the shoulder in pre-season and that he has played through it up until Wednesday. Hopefully those reports will be authenticated one way or the other. They are certainly in keeping with what several commenters here, Robert notably, who have suggested that “resting” Kobe so much was indicative of an underlying problem.

    I hope that Kobe can return to work on the court and that this is not the last we will see of him. I’ll treasure so many memories of his basketball excellence. Kobe has defined the post-Jordan years. The rest were just playing catchup.

  42. Aaron says

    Apperently Kobe has a complete tear meaning he and the Lakers have no choice… He needs to have surgery and will miss the rest of the season 🙁

  43. Chearn says

    For the hell the fans have endured for lo these five years, the Lakers better garner Jahlil and then pick up his cousin Emeka as backup. Entitlement, you betcha, have you seen the prices at Staples Center.

  45. Moto says

    report just came in…Los Angeles Lakers star Kobe Bryant is expected to miss the remainder of the season with a torn rotator cuff, sources told ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne.

  47. Chearn says

    The Lakers don’t have an injury bug, they have an injury parasite that eats away at their innards like a ravenous zombie in the Walking Dead.

    I might re-post this every day for the balance of the season.

  48. J C says

    LKK brings up a great point.
    Maybe all the “rest” they’ve been giving Kobe has been an attempt to address an issue which has actually been ongoing.
    A nagging rotator cuff could also explain the reduced shooting % he’s been displaying.

    After the passing of Dr. Buss, the recent tragedy of Kupchak’s daughter, and now Kobe’s devastating injury….it would be understandable if the wheels came off for awhile.

    It’s probably time to cut the Lakers management team some slack.

  49. karen says

    I am a laker fan. Never miss a game. Yrs ago knew someone who worked for the lakers wnd went to many games. But if i am a kobe hater now, so be it. I just read that the laker front office has essentially used kobe in exchange for his $52 mil. Kobe around people buy tickets including season holders. Everyone is enabling him. But he is being mocked in print and on tv. His statistics for this yr are embarrassing and yet he hangs on until the worst has happened again. This injury is a yr long rehab. Save your legacy kobe, bow out now

  50. rr says

    >It’s probably time to cut the Lakers management team some slack.

    —

    Actually, Kobe’s inability to stay on the floor just draws another line under how foolish the contract really was and is. If it were up at the end of this year, it wouldn’t be so bad. But now next year and the 25M the Lakers owe him is a huge problem.

    >Save your legacy kobe, bow out now

    __

    Five rings won with two entirely different teams, seven conference titles, two Gold Medals, third-leading scorer of all time, one NBA MVP and two Finals MVPs. The discussion of what kind of legacy Kobe is going to have ended a long time ago. Like a lot of people on both sides of the never-ending argument, you are confusing how you feel about him with the facts. It’s fine that you don’t like him; millions of people don’t like him. But he will have two numbers in the rafters and a statue outside of Staples no matter what happens during the rest of his contract.

    The guy who has actually damaged his legacy around here the last couple of years is Mike D’Antoni. Ten years ago, back in the heyday of SSOL, MDA was the hottest coach in the game. Now he has been part of trainwrecks in New York and Los Angeles, and although a lot of that was not his fault, it has dramatically altered public perception of him.

  51. rr says

    Add: IMO the only way that KB can hurt his legacy now is if he has another major issue off the court. And even then, the basketball record will still be what it is.

  52. Sunny says

    Kobe will be back strong next year. Yeah he’s 36 but with his killer instinct he will play next year and the year after. He averaged 23 on a really, really bad Lakers team with no scorers. Guys were missing open Js. He had no point guard or wings. Peep http://www.kobebryant.ca on his latest injury. Darius just like any Kobe fan we all sad. But hey us old guys can still and will ball.