Kobe Bryant Injury Update: Lakers Star Undergoes Surgery on Torn Rotator Cuff

On Wednesday, Los Angeles Lakers superstar Kobe Bryant underwent surgery on his torn rotator cuff. He is expected to be out for nine months.

Continue for updates.

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Bryant to Miss Nine Months Following Surgery

Wednesday, Jan. 28

Bill Oram of the OC Register provided a statement from the Lakers following Bryant's surgery:

Mark Medina of the LA Daily News reported Bryant would be in a sling for six weeks following surgery.

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Lakers Announce Bryant Requires Surgery

Monday, Jan. 26

The team announced the news via Twitter along with additional details: 

Bleacher Report's Kevin Ding provided further insight into the rehab process for Bryant:

Ramona Shelburne of ESPN originally reported on Friday that Bryant would be out for the rest of this season with the injury:

The injury occurred during the Lakers' 96-80 loss against New Orleans on Jan. 21. Bryant told reporters after the game, via ESPN.com, that the injury occurred while going for a dunk in the third quarter.

"I felt fine when I went up and didn't feel too good when I came down," Bryant said. 

One interesting part of the injury, from the video that was recorded for The Players' Tribune and posted on YouTube, is the doctor saying, "The thing that I can't tell is how long you've had this injury."

Whether Bryant's arm was hanging on by a thread entering the game or he just tweaked it the wrong way, the end result is crushing for Los Angeles. 

Even though the Lakers won't make the playoffs this year, or really be competitive in the Western Conference, their team runs through Bryant. He's the engine that makes the machine go, but the lack of help around him has forced a lot of sloppy play in 2014-15. 

At 36 years old, Bryant is already coming off a season last year when he was only able to play six games. It's certainly reasonable to assume the days of Bryant being a superstar are over. The bigger question moving forward is if he can accept being a piece of the puzzle instead of the answer to everything.