Kobe Bryant Officially Returns, in LA Lakers' Preseason Game Against Utah Jazz

After nine months of recovering due to a torn rotator cuff in his right shoulder, Kobe Bryant is now back for the NBA Preseason Game. The 37-year-old professional basketball player proved, once again, that he and his team, the Los Angeles Lakers, can still make it after dropping the ball during the last two seasons.

The husband of Vanessa Laine Bryant played the entire first quarter of the Laker's first preseason game with Utah Jazz on Sunday at the Stan Sheriff Center at the University of Hawaii at Manoa, according to ESPN.

With about 10 minutes left, he guard fired a contested 3-pointer-shoot from the left corner and hit the side of the backboard. The rest of his "brief outing" turned out to be not so good with just finishing five points on the 1-of-5 shooting in 12 minutes.

USA Today reported that the team decided to hold their training camp at the said place for the first time since 2007. They captured all headlines as Kobe made his sensational return and most of his fans showed up to watch their game.

However, he continued playing after the first quarter after the 1-of-5 with no rebounds, no assists and one turnover. He said that the limited playing time came after the "heavy load he carried" a day before their team fight.

"[There's] a lot of upside [on this Lakers team]. The pieces complement each other extremely well," Kobe said. "[His legs] feel strong. They don't feel tired at all. It's just getting timing down...getting acclimated again."

"The practice before, I played probably 40 minutes straight, so my back today was a little tight from all that running," he also added. "We decided to play the first 12, and look to increase it gradually with every game."

Meanwhile, Kobe's lone field goal was a contested 3-pointer from the right corner over Jazz swingman, Gordon Hayward. The Lakers lose with 90-71 over the team from Utah.

ESPN added that Byron Scott, the Lakers' coach, was pleased with how Kobe played the game. He said: "He was pretty good. He moved well."

The 54-year-old former basketball player even revealed that the 12-minute game of Kobe was already arranged even before the game. "I told him before we went out, 'Let's just play the quarter and then let's shut it down and see how you feel [Monday]."

"We'll go through practice and then get ready for Tuesday," Byron said. L.A. Lakers will face Utah Jazz once again on Tuesday.

Watch the return of the Black Mamba below: