Kobe surprises by saying no to surgery

Once again Kobe has taken the right step to show that he is the real thing, not just a big phony trying to make himself rich and famous. This (not having surgery) shows that he is a real team guy,

Well its his finger and he knows how it feels better than any of us ever will so if he feels like he can play with it he should go right on ahead. It didnt take much if anything away from his game so i am completely behind him here.

Plus the team needs to learn how to play with bynum again so training camp is essential this year.

Kobe missed playing for the U.S. a couple of times so the clock had ticked down toward the end of the day for him. If he had not played this year he may never have gotten another chance. It is refreshing to see an athlete put the U. S. A. and the Lakers team ahead of personal feelings.

The Good: Kobe won't miss any time bonding with his team mates and 12 weeks is a long time (September, October, November). At least the Chemistry with his team mates will be there and if Andrew and Pau and Lamar can pick up the slack then all is fine. He proved he can play for over 6 months with that torn ligament so why not? For Laker fans who really think it was a "big deal", while having 4 fingers is certainly not normal, he already showed he can shoot well over 60% with or without the torn ligament so it didn't really affect too much his shot.

The Bad: Can that finger really hold long enough to win the championship? Regardless of intent, it is still a big risk to try to play without correcting the problem. Even though the surgery will take 12 weeks to recover (much longer than the 6 weeks originally presented--thumbs down for modern medicine), one's got to ask themselves if they can play with only 4 fingers.....

The Ugly: Besides that this is quite surprising, if it cannot heal in the future, can he really live the rest of his life living with 4 operational fingers?

Analysis: Beijing 2008 he should have attended hands down regardless. Having him miss 12 weeks is another issue since he will have to miss all of November as well and those are key games. If it was originally 6 weeks then it would be very surprising even more. True if he didn't play for USA he would have had more time to recover. But hey he had bad games even with the ligament in 100% shape. The pinky didn't seem to bother him too much during the playoffs and don't say it led to his poor shooting in the Finals, he had games of 60.0% and 47.1% shooting in Games 3 and 2 in the Finals with that torn pinkie. He shot 42.9% in the first regular season game against Boston and 24.0% in the other regular season game against Boston and those were times the pinky wasn't an issue!

I felt too many Laker fans was so worried about the extent of the injury when he having his pinky taped up his shot was barely affected at all. The question is how will it affect him long term ie beyond his NBA career?

Final Analysis: He did the right thing and this pinky thing while certainly not normal, Kobe showed he can still shoot very good (and poor) regardless of such a pinky.

On Yahoo Kobe states that he'd leave the Lakers and play in Italy if an Italian team offered him $50 million a year.

That sucks.

Not being a multi-millionaire, I have trouble understanding how some people just aren't satisfied with having over $100 million in assets and are willing to compromise personal Greatness to acquire more money. When is enough, enough?

GO LAKERS!

Giving credit to Commentator Reed over at Forum Blue and Gold- Kurt asked what Kobe's shooting percentages were before and after the injury-

Kobe pre-injury:
46 games, 45.9% FG, 83.6% FT, 35.6% 3P, 8.8 FTA/gm, 5.1 3PA/gm

Kobe post-injury (including playoffs):
57 games: 46.5% FG, 83.1% FT, 34.4% 3P, 9.4 FTA/gm, 5.0 3PA/gm

AS you can see....not much of a difference, at all. So....if it's not hampering him....then I say good for him.

"I just didn't want to miss any time 'punching the clock' for the Lakers"

Good for him, didn't want to get surgery and miss "company time"! Wonder who that could be in reference to...

"What it really came down to for me is that I just didn't want to miss any time 'punching the clock' for the Lakers ..."

OUCH! Nice poke at the Big Company Time Bandit.

do you guys realize what 12 weeks are, right?

a hand 'doctor' was just interviewed, and he said that it's best for kobe not to get the surgery, that if he does, there's a BIG change the finger will not be able to move for a long time.

the risk is BIGGER if he has it done.

Lakofan,

What hand doctor are you referring to? Do you have a link for this?

AK

If it was really going to take 12 weeks then he made the right decision.

Reason: The Lakers must have Home Court to win it all

Every win will be important to achieve this and 12 weeks is to long when your trying to change up the chemistry of the team playing 2 BIGS down low. Training Camp this year with the changes in style of play is HUGE!!!!

Kobe can't miss camp this year.

Good Decison Kobe!

Go Lakers!

BD

AK --

One of the things I heard early on is that the tendon could shrivel if it was not reattached within a certain time window. I don't know if this had anything to do with it or not. But do you recall that?

HmrHed,

I heard the same thing.

GO LAKERS!

He knows his body more than most. He knows his tolerance more than most.

That said, I totally, vehemently disagree with this decision. Contrary to AK I don't think this will be something he would have no choice to fix later in the season...but rather, it will be something that will continue to show throughout the season. A full strength Kobe is what we need.

Get the surgery Kobe. We can hang on for 12 weeks.

Lakofan,

What hand doctor are you referring to? Do you have a link for this?

AK

********************

it was on the radio...i'll get you the link later on. i never "make up" stories...i think you remember that about me.

besides that, i've read before that that was a big concern, that if he waited longer, the surgery would be worse in the end.

by moving the hand. the finger would continue to get worse, not in the sense of the injury, but in that they need to take a more extensive look at his hand and the ligaments in the pinkie finger. the surgery would be more extensive and there was the possibitlity of the pinkie not getting movement.

hope that explains it a little bit...

Kobe consulted a Shaolin monk and was given a secret herbal formula to heal his torn ligament. See this monks are martial arts combatants and tear and break bones normally. They heal by themselves with no surgery. See link below. Go Kobe! Go Lakers!

http://www.seaofchi.com/ihs.html

Charles / laker nation,
"One Doctor mentioned that if it was worked on right away after the Finals, he may have been fine. (Also mentioned it was speculative) But there is a chance since it has been injured for at least 9 months that if it were to under major activity, it may stiffen up and affect the ligament permanently."

And the plot thickens ... ok so granted the doctors haven't had a chance to see him but assuming this is the kind of thing you can professionally guestimate about then one has to really kinda question the wisdom of the whole olympics thing ... then again dude agrew up abroad, the whole international thing meant a lot to him, and he's always hurt every summer olympic, he's getting older and all ... so yeah i understand him being selfish and wanting to play for his country ... so who do we blame for this ... well i blame cupcake ... he should have said no ... he should have said we wont pay you if you dont get surgery ... season over get it now and umm tough luck you cant do the olympics but who's paying ya rent ... that's right we're your daddy

ok ok I'm just being sarcastic ... decisions been made, I just hope he's at least 90% kobe cuz d west has some serious ballers in the back court these days ... cp3, brandon roy, them young uns are coming up ..

Taliq,

"Website says 12 weeks as does your post, that menas missing more than camp. That'd at least take him out the first month and a half. And we all remember how Bynum's 12 weeks turned out to be more like 30."

No, I get that, although it sounded to me like Kobe meant that it could take up to 12 weeks, as in "the extreme." Maybe that was just a result of the wording on the site, but that's how I took it. But yeah, I realize 12 weeks recovery could link into a few weeks into the season, but I'd rather him miss 3-4 weeks' worth of games than 12 weeks worth of games, were he to re-aggravate the pinky during the season. If it's 30 weeks (WAY worst case scenario), I'd rather get 7-8 of them out of the way before the season begins.

Whatever the case, it just seems like the most practical, based covered route to me.

AK

You know, it might be a longer recovery now because he's already waited 9 months. The surgery option now might be reconstructive and no longer repair. He may have turned a corner that only a full off-season can rectify.

It is important to note that this time his decision isn't outside the lines of the opinions of medical professionals. In this case, he's still in that grey area.

Last year, the consensus was to definately have the surgery.

So we might lable it foolish, brave, commendable, or dangerous. We can't label his decision irresponsible.

--Fearless

lakofan,

"by moving the hand. the finger would continue to get worse, not in the sense of the injury, but in that they need to take a more extensive look at his hand and the ligaments in the pinkie finger. the surgery would be more extensive and there was the possibitlity of the pinkie not getting movement."

So Kobe lied to us by saying he couldn't worsen it by playing longer. I mean yeah the pain etc might not be worse but the dude conveniently left out the part about surgery being more difficult ...

argh I hate the fact that our best weapon is not at a 100% but I can't be mad at his motivation ... getting to the finals last year sped up the making of our dynasty, this team will have an extra swagger in it's step, cuz now they know they're good enough as oppsoed to say it looks good on paper ... 2nd he did it for his country and whilst it's very easy for me to say team usa would have won without him or that who cares about olympic basketball, fact is they hadn't won recently without him and he apparently cared about usa gold (i still think it's stupid to say its better than a championship but hey people think i'm crazy for trying to live in a zipcode i can't afford, we all have what gets us off)

One good thing now is that if Kobe plays badly we can still whisper about his pinky as an excuse for his poor play.

AK,

"Whatever the case, it just seems like the most practical, based covered route to me."

I agree 100%, I think sometimes we forget being great at basketball doesn't mean you make smart decisions.

Fearless,
"You know, it might be a longer recovery now because he's already waited 9 months. The surgery option now might be reconstructive and no longer repair. He may have turned a corner that only a full off-season can rectify.

It is important to note that this time his decision isn't outside the lines of the opinions of medical professionals. In this case, he's still in that grey area."

And do we know whether waiting 20 months as oppossed to 10 would make surgery even that much harder. I mean dudes an adult, if he wants to play till his hands fall off then that's fine. I just hate the fact that I'll be cheering on while he does it.

I guess this is why we pray. So laker fans when you get on your knees for a championship this season, remember to add the clause that we dont want it to come at the expense of future championships and we dont want it to come at the expense of kobe's hand. We want to have our cake and eat it too. I read somewhere we're entitled to another dynasty as a reward for generously starting smush and kwame on the same team.

As much as we'd love for Kobe to be as close to 100% as possible, I don't think foregoing surgery is that big of a deal. There is a picture in his mind that is more important than the "longevity" of his career. With AB coming back at "100%" and no "major" injuries to the team, he wants to be there with them through the whole process. He knows the Lakers' chances to win it all this year are the best they've had in a LONG while, including last year, which came as a second half surprise.

This year they are contenders from day one, and he wants his team to buy into that. He is being the leader that we all knew he was capable of being. If he gets the surgery, misses the first couple months and the guys have a slow start, they risk losing the season, the confidence in the young players, etc. This is not a veteran team, just more experienced than this time last year.

No player has a will stronger than Kobe's. There may be players just as strong, but nobody's is stronger. He'll manage that injury and endure pain to win. That's what you gotta love about him as a player. Plus, I really don't think a pinky is going to affect the remainder of his career that much. Feel good that our leader is HUNGRY for a title and he's letting his team know that he'll be there for them no matter what it takes. I can't wait!!!

I'm as torn as Kobe's pinky on this issue. Sure, it makes sense to have the surgery. Sure, it makes sense not to want to miss the first six weeks of the season, or more.

Kobe's warrior mentality obviously rules the day. If he and the Lakers rule the season and post-season and bring home the Championship trophy, we can pick up this conversation next summer. Go Lakers!

Xodus,

See for yourself.

http://tinyurl.com/6h7sof

GO LAKERS!

Jeff,
Thanks for the stats. I feel that Kobe's offensive stats (except for points per game) should have increased post-pinky injury. With the acquistion of Gasol, coupled with Lamar's improved play, Kobe had more open looks post-pinky, as defenses did not have the luxury of focusing solely on Kobe anymore. Yet, his stats remained virtually the same. This leads me to believe that although his stats did not change, his pinky might've had a negative effect on his offensive stats. I'm actually more concerned about Kobe's dribbling and rebounding. There were many instances last year where the ball just got away from Kobe when dribbling with his right hand. That being said, if Kobe can win the MVP with four fingers, he can do whatever he feels is best for the team.

John K,
Would you leave your company to do the exact same work elsewhere, even though you loved everything about the co., if your salary were to increase threefold (with incentives and tax breaks, $50million is closer to 3 times Kobe's salary)? Anyone would be crazy not to take that offer. If Kobe says he would go overseas, don't blame Kobe, blame the Collective Bargaining Agreement. The only way to keep the NBA stars from going overseas in the future is to restructure the (owner-biased) CBA. The threat of Lebron and Kobe going overseas should force owners to address this issue.