Black Mamba Down

As Kobe Bryant sat on the floor Friday night grimacing in pain, every Lakers fans nightmare became a reality. The extended minutes and physical effort of this rollercoaster season had finally gotten to the Black Mamba and hit him with a knockout punch.
With the Lakers in the thick of a race for the 8th seed in the West, Kobe was obviously going to have to play more if the Lakers wanted to keep their postseason hopes alive. However, I feel that someone on the Lakers medical staff should have remembered the he (Kobe) was in his 17th NBA season and maybe playing an average of 45.7 minutes over a 7 game stretch would put some physical strain on his 34 year old body. Now the minutes may not have been the direct cause to the injury, but I will not believe that the increase in minutes was not at least a factor that left him more susceptible to this type of injury.

Kobe Bryant's left Achilles' tendon popped, and with it went the Lakers chances at a post season run.

The torn Achilles' tendon in his left foot will sideline Bryant for the rest of the season and until at least Christmas. Many athletes have suffered this type of injury and it has been know to be one of the most frustrating injuries that can occur in a pro career because, besides the physical recovery,  the mental recovery to trust that the tendon won't pop again whenever they need to jump or cut on the court or field is hard to overcome.
So when will we see Kobe Bryant back at full strength again? At 34 years old and with a career that spans the equivalent of 20 NBA seasons (including postseason and international duty) it is hard to imagine ever seeing him back to 100 percent fully fit. And if we know Kobe Bryant as well as we like to think we do, then he won't allow himself to come back until he is convinced that he can perform at an elite level and live up to the high standards that he has set for himself the past 17 years in his basketball career.
And if all else fails, at least he could try to reignite his rap career.