Kobe Bryant is truly one of the greats in NBA history although many people are unaware of his endurance. In addition, he often plays despite serious injuries.
He's no Michael Jordan in this department as you will see from the following paragraphs but he's gritty:
Bryant has played a full complement of regular-season games four times in his career, including playing in all 50 games during the lockout-shortened 1999 season. That falls far short of the threshold established by Michael Jordan, who played 82 games in nine different seasons, including his final one in 2002-3.
Tim Grover, Jordan’s former trainer, has worked with Bryant for the past few years to address what Bryant felt were physical weaknesses, which he declined to specify. With age, Bryant has defied the significant injuries that nagged him earlier in his career.
In the 1999-2000 season, he missed the first six weeks with a hand injury. He missed games with a cut finger in 2003-4 and 14 games with an ankle injury the next season. He has had two knee operations during his career.
The entire NY Times article can be found at the following link:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/23/sports/basketball/23kobe.html?ref=sports
Happy Gswede Saturday!
Saturday, January 23, 2010
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