Kobe Bryant Could Miss Weeks For Lakers With Sore Achilles Tendon

Kelvin Kuo-USA TODAY Sports

The 2015-16 NBA season will officially be the last for superstar guard Kobe Bryant of the Los Angeles Lakers. Bryant is determined to walk away from the NBA after his 20th season in the league but the prospect of finishing his last year unscathed is getting harder and harder for the seasoned veteran.

Bryant got off to a rough start at the beginning of the year with many of his pundits writing him off as being finished as a star player in the NBA. Kobe was able to turn things around and elevate his level of play, but the perennial All-Star has struggled to stay healthy as of late.

On Tuesday night, the Lakers were able to come out on top against the visiting New Orleans Pelicans, but it came at a cost with Bryant missing the second half due to a sore Achilles tendon. The extent of Kobe’s injury may be lead the team to keep their superstar sidelined for the next few weeks. Head coach Byron Scott admitted that if Bryant wants to play moving forward, it will have to be on a minutes restriction via Mike Bresnahan of the L.A. Times:

“I know him and I know he wants to play,” Scott said. “If that’s the case, I’ll wait until tomorrow to see how he feels. Then if he says, ‘Coach, I want to play,’ then we have to have another discussion on how long he can play, how many minutes. I’m just going to wait until tomorrow and see how he feels and go from there.”

Following the win over the Pelicans, the Lakers will have a tough task ahead facing the defending NBA champion Golden State Warriors on Thursday night in Oakland. Although it would be Bryant’s last game at Oracle Arena, there’s no guarantee he’ll be on the floor.

According to Sportsbook.ag, the Warriors are heavy favorites (-17) coming into their matchup with the Lakers. Stephen Curry and company will take on the Denver Nuggets on Wednesday night, but the line is already out for their matchup against Los Angeles.

Golden State has lost only two games this season and it is highly unlikely they’ll be losing their second to the Lakers, especially at home in Oakland.