Kobe Bryant was one of the toughest players ever to grace the hardwood. The Black Mamba perhaps had a higher pain threshold than anybody who's ever played the game of basketball.
Many point to the time when Bryant tore his Achilles, walked to the bench, went back up to shoot two free throws, and walked on his own power to the locker room as the perfect example. Well, former Lakers head coach Byron Scott added one more story to the legend of Kobe.
Scott recalled the Lakers' January 21, 2015, game against the New Orleans Pelicans, when trainer Gary Vitti asked Scott to pull their superstar out of the game because something seemed to be wrong with his shoulder. When Scott called a timeout to ask Kobe what was wrong, the Mamba dismissed his head coach.
"So I called time out, Kobe comes over, and I said, 'KB, you alright?' He said, 'Yeah, pops under my shoulder.' I said, 'Alright, man, I got to take you out of the game.' He said, 'No, I'm good, I got another one,'" recalled Scott.
Kobe shot the ball left-handed
And so, despite Vitti's advice, Scott let Kobe remain in the game. The next play down the court, Bryant went on to post up Quincy Pondexter and hit a shot over him. Over the next several possessions, Bean continued to shrug off something in his shoulder. So Scott had enough and finally took Bryant out of the game.
"He said 'B, I'm good,' and I said 'No, that's it, dog,'" added Scott. "I sat him down. We go in after the game, and doctors come in and say he separated his shoulder and needed surgery. But he played literally five more minutes until I just said, 'No, KB-.'"
Following the game, Kobe had an MRI, which showed that he had separated his shoulder. A couple of days later, the famed Dr. Neal Elattrache confirmed that Bryant suffered a torn rotator cuff in his right shoulder and needed to undergo surgery. He missed the rest of the 2014-15 season.
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He admitted he tore his shoulder years ago
While Scott's story of Kobe playing five minutes with a separated shoulder sounded impressive, Bryant's admission that he tore his shoulder years before getting surgery was even more stunning, and it proved that the Black Mamba was indeed one hell of a tough SOB.
"I tore my rotator cuff. The funny thing about it is I've been playing with it, I guess, torn for a long time. I just never actually got an MRI on it because the strength, even now, the strength in my shoulder is good," Bryant said to Ahmad Rashad on the special Kobe: The Interview. "I can shoot, but I just keep tearing it more and more and more. It's just I've never actually gotten looked at because the strength was so good."
Kobe's pain threshold was truly something else. Yet Bryant was also too tough for his own good. Because he took his body beyond its limits, he paid dearly for it late in his career when injuries began piling up. But then again, that was how he was, and that's why there won't be another one like him.
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