LA Lakers Superstar Kobe Bryant Ready For Training Camp: Kupchak
Kobe Bryant has revealed a few weeks ago that he already started shooting on his injured shoulder, now Mitch Kupchak said that the Los Angeles Lakers super guard will be ready by the time the training camp rolls in.
The Los Angeles Lakers will play an exhibition game against the Utah Jazz on Oct. 4 and Oct. 6 at the University of Hawaii but it's not clear if the Black Mamba will participate.
"My understanding is that he'll be ready for camp," Mitch Kupchak told USA Today
"Knowing Kobe, he will try to participate in every practice in camp. But myself and (head coach) Byron (Scott) are going to have something to say about that. So I'm sure there will be a practice or two or three where we won't let him practice, but I do expect him to be full bore at camp," he added.
Kobe Bryant had just come off his worst two seasons ever as he played only 41 games due to various injuries. He underwent surgery in January this on a torn right rotator cuff.
When the Black Mamba does come back, he has plenty of motivations to get back to where he was prior to the injury, not just proving father time wrong but also his critics who feel that he has no more left in his tank.
The Sports Illustrated issue that ranked the 100 best players in the NBA only placed the Los Angeles Lakers superstar at 54, a huge drop from last year's 24th ranking.
In ranking Kobe Bryant, Ben Golliver wrote https://www.si.com/nba/2015/08/31/kobe-bryant-top-100-nba-players-ranking#, "Indeed, there is a pretty good case to be made that Bryant shouldn't be on this list at all. Bryant had the worst effective field goal percentage (.411) of any NBA player to take at least 700 shots. Nevertheless, Bryant's usage rate (34.9%) was second-highest in the league, trailing only Russell Westbrook."
He added, "Simultaneously, Bryant had the worst defensive rating (112.6) of any player that logged at least 1,000 minutes, and he ranked 81st out of 91 shooting guards in Defensive Real Plus-Minus. That's what happens when you gamble off the ball with Donald Trump-like discretion and play transition defense like a flabbergasted tourist whose money belt has just been ripped off his waist in broad daylight."
