At 35 years old and having logged more than 50,000 NBA minutes, Kobe Bryant admits his body may be starting to give out on him.
Still sidelined by an ankle injury and having played in just six L.A. Lakers game all season, Bryant told the L.A. Times his recovery was "coming slowly" and he didn't have a legitimate timetable of when he might see the court again.
"I'm optimistic coming out of the break that I will have some improvements once I get back to L.A. and do a couple of follow-ups and then go from there," Bryant told the newspaper. "But it's been a slow process."
Bryant later added he remains hopeful he will be able to return to action this season. Before playing in the six games he appeared in, he missed the first two months of the season recovering from a torn Achilles.
"Of course. Absolutely," Bryant told The Times when asked if he ever fears his body may no longer hold up. "That's part of the excitement of the challenge, that level of uncertainty. 'Is this it' sort of thing, are my best days behind me sort of thing. And to have those conversations with yourself and not be intimidated by that and not be succumbing to that is part of the challenge."
It's been a hard-luck season for both Bryant and the Lakers, who currently stand at 18-35 and on pace to miss the postseason for the first time since the 2004-05 season.
The Lakers recently inked Bryant to a two-year extension worth $48.5 million and five-time NBA champ is now hoping they will use all the money they have remaining under the salary cap to quickly rebui
"What we have coming up this off-season with the cap space and what we have ahead of ourselves seems to be right in the Lakers' wheelhouse in terms of turning things around pretty quickly," he told The Times "We have had summers like this, they have never really faltered, they have normally made really sound and excellent decisions that put us right back in contention."
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