No Surgery for Kobe

I suppose you’ve got to deem his work ethic laudable, but Kobe Bryant’s decision to eschew surgery on his injured pinky in order to avoid a twelve week rehab process seems a bit misguided. We’re still seven weeks from the Lakers’ first game on October 28, so we’re not really talking about missing that much regular season basketball. And surely the Lakers squad could survive without Kobe for a month and a half. What they can’t do is win an NBA Championship if Kobe re-injures his hand and winds up needing to miss the playoffs. And seeing as how you’d have to look at LA as preseason favorites to win it all this year, the controlling situation ought to be making sure that he’s in tip-top shape for the end of the season, not worrying about whether or not he’s available at the beginning.