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Lakers GM Kupchak expects Bryant to return
Jeff Hawkins is an award-winning sportswriter with more than four decades in the industry (print and digital media). A freelance writer/stay-at-home dad since 2008, Hawkins started his career with newspaper stints in Michigan, North Carolina, Florida, Upstate New York and Illinois, where he earned the 2004 APSE first-place award for column writing (under 40,000 circulation). As a beat writer, he covered NASCAR Winston Cup events at NHIS (1999-2003), the NHL's Chicago Blackhawks (2003-06) and the NFL's Carolina Panthers (2011-12). Hawkins penned four youth sports books, including a Michael Jordan biography. Hawkins' main hobbies include mountain bike riding, 5k trail runs at the Whitewater Center in Charlotte, N.C., and live music.
All posts by Jeff HawkinsUpdated15 Oct 2021
Los Angeles Lakers general manager Mitch Kupchak foresees star guard Kobe Bryant returning from a shoulder injury to play next season.
Brant had surgery to repair rotator cuff damage on Wednesday. His recovery time is projected at nine months, which would be just before the start of the 2015-16 season.
“I don’t think he’s retiring,” Kupchak said Thursday. “He said he’s looking forward to training camp. That’s what we expect.”
Bryant is making $23.5 million this season and has one year left on his contract at $25 million. The 19-year veteran will turn 37 this summer.
“He’ll be in a brace and it will be an awkward-looking brace,” Kupchak said. “I think that would prevent him from doing anything for quite some time in terms of being able to use your lower body. But at some point in time, his shoulder will get to the point where he can jog and do treadmill and do things on the court. I’m not that concerned with the conditioning part of it.”
Bryant averaged a team-high 35.4 minutes in the first 27 games this season, which is the third year in a row that he has succumbed to an injury.
“I don’t think that had anything to do with anything — certainly not the injury,” Kupchak said.
