Kobe Bryant played in an era that was perhaps the last of its kind when it came to taking pride in playing as many games as possible during the regular season. Vanessa Bryant even revealed that he would look to suit up for each game because he knew there were 1000s of people who get only a couple chances to see him live.
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‘The Black Mamba’ played in 11 seasons where he took to NBA hardwood for 70+ games. despite playing in a total of 1346 games, he had a slew of injuries over the years. He’d suffered everything from several sprained ankle during his youth to a knee fracture in his final seasons in his 18th season in the league.
Perhaps the most devastating of all injuries for Kobe however, was when he tore his Achilles tendon. According to Tom Brady, a lot of the injuries he suffered could’ve had faster recovery times if he’d followed his method.
Tom Brady on how Kobe Bryant could’ve improved his recovery
Tom Brady was drafted in the year 2000 and went on to play till 2023, completing 22 whole seasons in the NFL. He would win 7 Super Bowls and almost always be in the postseason. Despite the amount of time he spent on the field, he managed to retire a healthy man this year.
His reasoning for why he was able to stay in shape for over two decades was due to the recovery method he adopted, aptly named the ‘TB12 Method’. He would go on the ‘Steam Room’ podcast with Ernie Johnson and Charles Barkley last year to talk about this method of his, claiming it’s what helped him prolong his career.
“A lot of basketball players go through that [muscle tightness] with their quads, hamstrings, calves, and their Achilles. All those injuries are preventable. Achilles tears, non-contact ACLs, and muscle strains if you do the work in advance.”
“I watched, God rest his soul, Kobe Bryant at the end of his career, he’d have two ice bags on his knees, an ice bag on his shoulder. We could help a lot of those things if we did a lot of preventative things and helped guys’ recovery.”
Kobe Bryant tore his Achilles tendon
Kobe Bryant vowed to help drag the Los Angeles Lakers to the Playoffs during the 2012-13 season, in his 17th year in the league and did just that. He averaged 26.5 points, 7.1 assists, and 5.4 rebounds a night in March 2013 and would have himself 47 points in the 79th game of the season against the Blazers.
His final game came the very next game, which was against the Golden State Warriors where he would drop 34 but tear his Achilles in the process. He would still get to the charity stripe and drain two shots after tearing it but would miss the Playoffs due to his tear.
