Los Angeles Lakers star Kobe Bryant had surgery on Saturday afternoon to repair the torn Achilles tendon in his left leg and is expected to need six to nine months to recover, the team announced.
Longtime trainer Gary Vitti said Bryant would be immobilized for at least a month after surgery. If Bryant were to recover on the short end of the six-to-nine month timetable the team provided, he might be able to play at the start of the 2013-14 season.
Bryant posted several photos to his Instagram account as he prepped for the surgery, including one posing next to Lakers minority owner Patrick Soon-Shiong while he was receiving an MRI.
Bryant fell to the floor with 3:08 remaining in the fourth quarter Friday night while being guarded by the Warriors’ Harrison Barnes. Bryant had played every minute of the game up to that point, scoring 32 points — including back-to-back 3-pointers to tie the game with 3:45 remaining.
“I made a move that I make a million times and it just popped,” Bryant said after the game.
Bryant asked Barnes if he had kicked him in the leg. When Barnes said he hadn’t, Bryant said he knew that a major injury had occurred.
“I was just hoping it wasn’t what I knew it was,” Bryant said. “Just trying to walk it off, hoping that the sensation would come back, but no such luck.”
Following a timeout, Bryant went back into the game and hit both of his free throw attempts with the injury to end his night with 34 points, five rebounds and four assists before being subbed out for Metta World Peace and heading to the locker room.
Information from Espn.com and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
