Kobe Bryant may be healing from his Achilles tendon rupture, and unable to take the basketball court, but his promotional wheels never stop turning. The "Black Mamba" is the center of a new Nike ad airing only in China.
In the new commercial Kobe explains making Chinese youth hoopers rise out of their beds for 4:00 a.m. practices during a basketball camp, discussing the character and mental toughness it builds.
The ad shows Kobe running the kids through various drills, and channels his endless pursuit of perfection when he tells them one of their drills was "awful." The entire purpose was to showcase the hard work he puts in and his never-ending quest to do everything perfectly.
Those traits may be why Kobe is on track to return to the Lakers by opening night, which is far ahead of the original plan which optimistically had him back by Christmas.
Lakers vice president Jeanie Buss is urging Bryant to take his time during that rehabilitation process, saying there's no need for him to rush a comeback. "I want Kobe to take the time that he needs to get healthy," Buss said. "I don't want to see him come back any sooner than when he's ready, and I know he'll know when that is. There's no reason for him to do anything that compromises his health."
Around the time of Bryant's injury speculation swirled that the team could enter a total rebuild and use its amnesty clause on Kobe's massive contract. That was squashed when they used it on Metta World Peace, and Buss made it clear Bryant's going nowhere.
"Kobe is part of the Laker family and he always will be. There's not many players who play 18-19 years with the same franchise, and it's important to us that he has a chance to play his entire career with the Lakers."
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