Los Angeles Lakers news and rumors indicated that team executives are not worried about the health of Kobe Bryant, who is also reportedly planning to buy ownership stake in a soccer team in Italy.
Lakers president and co-owner Jeannie Buss said in an interview with Time Warner Cable that they are not worried about how Bryant will perform next season.
Buss said that she talked to her partner Phil Jackson, who knows Bryant very well. And from their conversation, Buss said that she was convinced the superstar guard will regain his old form next season.
"Phil told me when Kobe got hurt, he said 'Jeanie it's gonna take a year, but he will come back.' And I know Kobe," Buss said in the Lakers news and rumors update. "He put a lot of pressure on himself to help the team out last season. He came back after six months, but now I know he's healed, and he's ready to play, so I'm really not worried about him coming back and contributing."
Buss played down speculation that Bryant will not be as effective before sustaining two straight major injuries. Jabari Davis of Basketball Insiders said in a recent report that Bryant could be compared to Michael Jordan when the Hall of Famer played for the Washington Wizards.
"I'm not sure we should expect Bryant to be quite as agile/mobile as 96-98 Jordan, but possibly somewhere between that type of athlete and the one that played for the Wizards a couple years later," Parker said. "I'm not foolish enough to doubt what Bryant can will himself to do."
Bryant missed the 2013 NBA Playoff after sustaining a torn Achilles tendon. He returned to action last season, but he sustained a knee injury just in his sixth game off an Achilles tendon surgery.
The 36-year-old superstar, who averaged 13.8 points and 6.3 assists last season, might retire after his two-year contract runs out, and sources said that Bryant is already preparing for his life after basketball.
According to a Lakers news and rumors update on LA Times, Bryant is reportedly part of a group trying to by Italian soccer team Bologna FC 1999.
Bryant is an avid soccer fan and his love for the popular sport began when his father, Joe Bryant, played in Italy before. Three years ago, Bryant also tried to buy a stake with Virtus Bologna.
