Kobe Bryant Injury Update: Lakers Star Out For the Season After Shoulder Surgery

It's the end of the NBA season for Los Angeles Lakers star Kobe Bryant who underwent a surgery for his injured rotator cuff at the Kerlan Jobe Orthopaedic Clinic on Wednesday.

NBA.com noted that the two-hour surgery was performed by doctors Neal ElAttrache and Steve Lombardo who said that it will take about nine months for Bryant to fully recover. 

"I expect Kobe to make a full recovery, and if all goes as expected, he should be ready for the start of the season," ElAttrache added.

AP Sports report published on Yahoo Sports said that the Lakers already acknowledge that Bryant will be gone for the rest of the season but denied that he will already retire.

"In my mind right now, he's coming back next year, unless he tells me something different," said coach Byron Scott.

The Lakers coach seemed to have already accepted the fact that this was the end of the road for Bryant for this season as the Lakers continue to face a losing streak. Bryant's latest injury was aggravated during a game against the New Orleans Pelicans last week when he attempted to make a double-hand dunk.

His absence will be pretty painful to the Lakers as Bryant is considered as one of the top scorers in the league. He recently passed Michael Jordan for third place in the NBA's career scoring list next to Kareem Abdul-Jabar and Karl Malone.

"It's pretty painful from what I've heard, and the rehab is long. But I think the biggest thing with Kobe, as long as [the media are] saying that he's done, he's going to come back. I think he proved his point this year that he still has a lot left in the tank. He's still one of the best players in the league," Scott told ESPN.

Last year, Bryant also missed the playoffs when he tore his Achilles tendon. His previous injuries, according to ESPN, also limited his participation in the games this season where he had to play "under a strict minutes limi" but it seemed that it was still not enough to protect him from sustaining another season-ending injury.

As for people speculating about his retirement, Bleacher Report said that this issue is still "premature" since the team still owes him $25 million in base salary for the year. The report also said that Bryant is considered as one of the most competitive players in the league and that it would be "uncharacteristic" for him to just exit because of series of injuries.