Kobe Bryant announced today that he will forgo surgery on his right pinkie finger.
From KB24.com:
“I have always felt that I can still focus and play at a high level even through various injuries. That’s really just part of the game. When the doctors told me recovery from a procedure could be 12 weeks, I just decided now was not the time to have surgery. What it really came down to for me is that I just didn’t want to miss any time ‘punching the clock’ for the Lakers, given all we are trying to accomplish as a team this NBA season. I am just really excited and looking forward to being there with the guys when camp opens in a few weeks. That is a real bonding process and if I can avoid being on the sidelines for that, God willing, I will.”
Bryant injured his finger in a February 5th game against the New Jersey Nets, and at the time, the Lakers were fighting for the Western Conference’s number seed. The difference between first and ninth place in the West was a matter of games and LA — fresh of the Pau Gasol trade — appeared to be a contender for the NBA championship. The risk of re-injury was worth the reward of an NBA championship so Bryant chose to delay surgery until after the Olympic games.
The Lakers fell short of their championship goal, but return all of their key players from last season, plus a seemingly rehabilitated Andrew Bynum.
Bryant’s decision to forgo surgery this season carries risk of course. There is a chance that Kobe could re-aggravate the injury and miss a significant stretch of the regular season. But I’m not convinced that the odds of Kobe re-injuring his pinkie would decrease if he underwent surgery. It’s been months since Bryant injured his finger. At this point, the fracture has probably “healed” itself. That means it no longer swells up when hit. If Bryant’s finger is “bent back” in the manner that tore the ligament, it will be nothing short of bad luck for he and the Lakers. There’s nothing — not even surgery — that can prevent that from happening.
Larry Bird once said, “some guys can dislocate a finger and be okay with it, some guys can dislocate a finger and be out six weeks. But to me, I didn’t want some little injury messing up my season.”
Bryant won’t allow injury to derail the Lakers title hopes — which is a stark contrast to the previous leader of the Lakers.
Six years ago, Shaquille O’Neal delayed surgery on his arthritic big toe until the start of training camp. Shaq explained himself by saying, “I got hurt on company time, so I’ll heal on company time.”
Shaq was 30 years old at the time — the same age as Kobe is now.
Due to Shaq’s absence, the Lakers started that 2002-2003 season 11-19.
After a Christmas day game against the Kings in 2002, Phil Jackson questioned whether Shaq would regain the form that helped lead the Lakers to three straight championships:
“He’s not as explosive as he was at one point in his career, obviously,” Jackson said. “I don’t expect it’s due to age, I think it’s due to an operation and whatever he has tying him down in his tennis shoes. I don’t expect to see him as active or as mobile or as physically dominating as he was four years ago.”
Jackson was right, Shaq’s weight had ballooned over the extended off-season and he never regained his explosiveness.
The Lakers never finished the regular season lower than third place in the West during their early 2000 championship seasons, but struggled to a fifth place finish in 2003.
Los Angeles won their first round series against the Timberwolves, but their dynasty ended at the hands of the San Antonio Spurs in the next round.
Surgery or not, Bryant would never allow his conditioning to slip beyond the point of return. But Bryant isn’t getting any younger either. At thirty years of age, Kobe has played more regular season (866) and playoff (152) games than anyone in NBA history.
I respect Bryant’s decision to delay surgery yet again for the chance to win a championship. It’s a testament to his character and commitment to the Lakers. After 103 NBA games and the Olympics, Bryant could use a little R&R. And a twelve week rehabilitation process would certainly provide that. But as he has throughout his career, Bryant’s chosen to persevere.
September 9th, 2008 at 8:44 pm
When I was 16, a friend of mine came over and we were playing 1 on 1 in my driveway. He swiped really hard at the ball and bent my right pinky way off to the side. I grabbed my hard and looked in slight horror as my finger was pointing to the street. I immediately grabbed my hand and squeezed my fingers together. I taped the finger to my ring finger for a few weeks. To this day, it is slightly crooked – i don’t even noticed it.
There is no way you can convince me that Kobe Bryant’s pinky has any effect on his play. His numbers didn’t change before or after the injury. He has had no trouble handling the ball. His FT shooting is just fine which indicates to me that his pinky isn’t altering his shot.
Since day one this has been the most overblown injury story in the NBA. I keep hearing about how he’s such a warrior for playing through it. Now he’s waited for weeks to see anybody about his pinky, and when he finally does, he decides not to have surgery because of the recovery time?
This pinky thing has taken on a life of its own.
September 9th, 2008 at 9:15 pm
Tsunami,
Take a look at this:
http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn14509-basketball-pros-rea
You’re right. Kobe’s numbers didn’t change.
But is that a testament to his fortitude and ability to play through pain or proof that his injury has been exaggerated?
September 9th, 2008 at 11:20 pm
Well I guess we really don’t know if he’s in pain or not. He certainly doesn’t seem like it.
September 10th, 2008 at 1:18 pm
— Tsu
Let me start by saying I agree, Tsu, that Kobe should have booked the surgery the week he got back from China. But even so, Kobe would have still missed the NBA season until Thanksgiving or so, rather than just before Christmas.
However, [Laughing] a pinky injury when you were 16 and a crooked finger today is a shame, but it seriously leaves you a LONG ways from being qualified to know what is happening with Kobe’s injury.
Hopefully you don’t intend to stick with your declaration that there is “no way” we can convince you Kobe’s play was affected by the injury, because the facts are it did.
1. Kobe’s field goal percentage dropped the year he played injured over the previous year.
2. Kobe’s free throw percentage dropped last year from the year before as well.
3. Kobe shot more 3 pointers last season than the season before, and went to the free throw line less than the season before, indicating he was less aggressive and tended to stay outside and protect his injured shooting hand.
Sparing you guys the really great story of how I injured my right pinky playing basketball… I had this surgery when I was 31 years old, a year older than Kobe.
That might not qualify me any more than your injury qualified you, Tsu, to know about Kobe’s injury, but at least I have first hand experience (pun intended) with both the injury and the results of the surgery, which even Kobe Bryant doesn’t yet have.
First, it takes longer than 12 weeks to recover. I only had about 80% mobility and flexibility at 12 weeks if memory serves.
Second, the finger gets better, but it also gets worse. You have to do physical therapy more than once a day to get mobility back in that finger. Even now, I have just 95% mobility back, I don’t have full flexibility back and never will in this life.
Third, even though I’ve had the surgery, for the rest of my life I have still had to buddy tape that finger to prevent reinjury. In fact, the specialist who operated on me was sure he’d see me again because he says most basketball players won’t buddy tape it, to protected it, but I always have.
Before the surgery, I couldn’t shake hands with people. In fact, typing was nearly impossible as the pinky is used a lot more than I realized before (return, backspace, etc.).
But before the surgery, even taped, getting my hand hit as I shot was PAINFUL. I swear the gym tinted a bit red every time it was hit.
If you’ve ever played basketball then you’d know that the shooting hand gets hit a LOT on shots with no foul call (hand is part of the ball rule).
There is a psychological affect to that, if you think your hand is going to be hit, it very definitely affects your shot.
If it isn’t affecting Kobe’s, then it is quite a testament to his mental toughness and greatness as a player.
Anyway, Kobe probably figures if he has to buddy tape it anyway after the surgery, then he may as well just keep playing so as to not miss any games and take care of it next summer.
But all that notwithstanding, Kobe is very foolish in my opinion not to get the surgry right now.
First, the surgery would put Kobe out of NBA action on the floor until almost Christmas. THIS IS A GOOD THING! The Lakers will still be well in the playoff race, when Kobe returns, and the big adjustment will be Gasol at power forward and Bynum at Center. Starting Sasha would be a VERY good thing for the Lakers, and for Vujacic’s confidence. Ultimately, the Lakers will spend the first part of the season learning how to win without their bailout heroics guy, and that is a very good thing.
Second, this isn’t a brain injury. Kobe will still be on the bench, and even able to participate in a limited way in practices. He’ll be involved and still be a leader.
Third, this isn’t a knee injury. Kobe will be able to return to the Lakers in near top shape when he is healed.
Fourth, by missing 1/3 of the season, Kobe will actually be fresher and better come playoff time.
Don’t forget, just because Kobe doesn’t go in for surgery this summer, that doesn’t mean he’ll play the entire season. There are still plenty of opportunities for injury, and playing injured only increases those opportunities.
Fifth, all those early games against the Lakers will be meaningless from a playoff scouting stand point, because Kobe wasn’t playing. However, they won’t be meaningless for the Lakers at all. They’ll know their opponents at full speed.
Sixth, this finger will not get better on its own, and until it is better, Kobe will shoot worse, be turnover prone, and tend to be protective of his hand, meaning he won’t be as quick to throw his hand in the path of passes he might be able to deflect or steal.
Seventh, this is a golden opportunity for him to further develop his left hand, especially in post up moves near the basket, and in baseline turnaround jump shots. When Jordan got older, he was less inclined to attack the rim and killed opponents with a baseline turnaround J. What if Kobe could do that from either side with either hand, PLUS attack the rim? That possibility ought to appeal to Kobe.
The bottom line is this:
If Kobe gets the surgery, the Lakers will still be in the playoffs, but more importantly, they’ll be in a better position to go all the way, thanks to a more confident and competent Lakers team that learned to win without Kobe, and to a fresher, healthier and deadlier Kobe Bryant.
BAD decision, Kobe.
REALLY bad decision.
Phil Jackson, Mitch Kupcheck, and Jerry Buss should triple team Kobe and insist he get the surgery this week.
In fact, the entire Lakers team should insist as well.
Never give up what you want most for what you want now.
September 10th, 2008 at 4:12 pm
Basketballogy,
Tom, the ligament is already torn. It can’t be torn again.
Kobe’s numbers may have decreased from the season before last but they remained pretty much the same before and after his injury:
http://www.forumblueandgold.com/2008/09/09/no-surgery-for-kobe/
Kobe’s lack of aggressiveness, increased three-point attempts, and decreased free throw attempts could also be attributed to Pau Gasol’s arrival.
I wish I was as confident as you are about LA’s ability to remain in playoff contention without Kobe. The Western Conference’s #1 and 8 seeds were separated by 7 games last season. When Kobe hurt his finger in February, the Lakers were in third place, Denver or Golden State was only three games behind them but sat in eighth.
The Lakers are going to be a force with Gasol and Bynum down low. But those guys are dependent upon someone getting them the ball. The only Lakers capable of that consistently are Kobe and Odom. Odom is injury prone. What if he goes down?
And while the Lakers could very well remain in playoff contention, seeding is extremely important in the West.
Bottom line (for me): the Lakers are the favorites to win the championship next season. And nothing is guaranteed. Bynum could go down with a season-ending injury next year. The time is now. The risk is worth the reward.
September 10th, 2008 at 5:14 pm
this is the right decision to make. Play through the injury – Lakers have too much promise to jeopardize that. One COULD argue that an injury (Bynum) has already cost the Lakers one ring….
September 11th, 2008 at 7:56 am
Hoff,
Actually, there is a LOT more damage that can be done. I didn’t get my surgery right away, I waited and ended up having to have it anyway because the tendon SNAPPED! My hand was taped but it got hit by some moron trying to steal the ball from me.
I literally could extend my finger, but could not curl it back in, so whenever I opened my hand, I had to reach over with my other hand to bend my pinky finger back in to a fist.
That is an interesting point about Kobe’s performance not dropping after the injury, however, that could and probably is due to the addition of Gasol as well. Gasol made a huge offensive impact on the Lakers and made the game easier for Kobe.
In fact, when I think about this more, I’m not sure statistics are going to be meaningful measures of the impact of Kobe’s injury.
My apologies, Tsu.
Your BEST point, Hoff, is reminding me how close the Western Conference playoff race was.
But I truly think Sasha would step up admirably into the starting shooting guard role, and Sasha plays defense. The Lakers would be hurting for depth, and would lack in leadership and swagger, but I truly think they’d still be somewhere between 6 and 9 in the playoff hunt in December if they had to do it without Kobe for that spell.
If Bynum’s injury cost the Lakers a ring, then why wouldn’t Bynum’s presence mean the Lakers would still be a playoff team if they had to go 9 weeks of the regular season without Kobe?
Everyone, myself included, seems to be using both statistics and logic to support our predispositions rather than as indicators as to how we should come down on this issue.
Again, as a guy who had this surgery, I originally injured it in the “preseason” as we were gearing up for our season, and I ended up missing the end, including the tournament.
Another thing everyone is ignoring is that Kobe had a VERY long NBA season, and then had a very draining summer with TeamUSA… sitting Kobe for 12 weeks to recover his finger would allow his body time to recover and meet the rigors of a long NBA season.
Not having the surgery is a missed opportunity for both the Lakers and Kobe, and there is a far better chance that Kobe won’t be able to finish the season, or won’t be at full strength when the playoffs come.
Again, never trade what you want most for what you want now.
September 11th, 2008 at 3:56 pm
Basketballogy,
I’ll probably never question Sasha’s effort. But he’s a spot up shooter. A lot of people have suggested that Sasha move in to the starting lineup, I think that’s wishful thinking.
I really don’t believe that Kobe has a greater chance of missing a significant portion of the season if he doesn’t have the surgery. If Kobe re-injures himself, I think it would have happened with a healthy finger too. Like I said, the tendon is already torn. It can’t be torn again.
You said your tendon “snapped” when it was hit again, was it frayed before?