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In what has been one hell of a bumpy ride for the Los Angeles Lakers this season, you have to believe that most Lakers fans took solace in the impending return of star guard Kobe Bryant.
However, that return isn’t going to happen. After multiple reports, the Lakers made it official on Wednesday afternoon that they are shutting down Bryant for the rest of the season, sending out this tweet to the team’s official account:
OFFICIAL: @kobebryant has been declared out for the remainder of the season. Press Release: http://t.co/pCle3khsHT
— Los Angeles Lakers (@Lakers) March 12, 2014
Bryant was originally slated to miss around six weeks after suffering another knee injury just six games removed from his return from a torn Achilles. When all is said and done, he’ll have missed 17 weeks with the second injury and 76 games overall this season.
This Lakers season is pretty much lost anyway, so it makes sense for the Lakers to bank on next season when they’ll have a high draft pick, cap-room, and a fully recovered Kobe to lean on. It’s going to be a rough last five weeks of this season, but the future isn’t all bad for this team.