Kobe Bryant Injury Update: Lakers Shut Down Star for Remainder of Season

For the third time in as many years, Kobe Bryant will finish his NBA season on the injured list. The Los Angeles Lakers ruled their star shooting guard out for the remainder of the 2014-15 campaign Wednesday after Bryant underwent surgery on a torn rotator cuff.

Bill Oram of the Orange County Register had the Lakers' statement:

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

The Lakers and Mike Trudell of Lakers.com provided comments from Mitch Kupchak, who spoke on Thursday about Bryant's injury:

Bryant, who has been dealing with a sore shoulder for most of the season, aggravated the injury last week in a loss to the New Orleans Pelicans. Doctors confirmed a diagnosis of a torn rotator cuff following an MRI on Monday and scheduled surgery for Wednesday. While it was widely expected Bryant would be ruled out, the Lakers waited to confirm until doctors saw the extent of the damage in surgery.

Bryant, 36, averaged 22.3 points, 5.7 rebounds and 5.6 assists in 35 games this season. He posted a career-low 37.3 shooting percentage, which included an abysmal 29.3 percent mark from beyond the arc. The Lakers were more than 11 points per 100 possessions better when Bryant was on the bench at the time of his injury, per Basketball-Reference.com.

Many, including Lakers coach Byron Scott, have wondered whether Bryant's extended minutes played a part in his body breaking down. Despite promises of a smaller workload, Scott played Bryant 34.5 minutes per game—including more than 37 a night during the season's first month.

"I don't know if the wear and tear of playing so many minutes early is a result of what's happening to him right now," Scott told reporters. "To be honest with you, I thought about that, it made me almost sick, you know."

Bryant has now suffered a major injury to a different part of his body each of the last three seasons. He tore his Achilles tendon late in the 2012-13 season, was held to six games because of the Achilles recovery and a knee injury in 2013-14 and suffered the shoulder injury this year. By the time Bryant returns for the 2015-16 campaign, he'll have played exactly half of a season since April 2013.

Eric Pincus of the Los Angeles Times weighed in on where the Lakers and Bryant should go from here:

"

The team needs to turn the page, but owner/executives Jim and Jeanie Buss both signed off on rewarding Bryant for his years of service.

From a basketball perspective, he should retire -- but in the real world, Bryant has earned his Derek Jeter year, even if the cost will be another season of Lakers purgatory.

"

Any discussion of retirement is likely premature. The Lakers owe him $25 million in base salary for 2015-16. While that money may mean more to the average American than someone of Bryant's wealth, it would still be borderline unprecedented for him to leave it on the table.

There is also a matter of pride. Bryant is on the short list of the most competitive players in league history. For him to go out like this would be uncharacteristic. Odds are Bryant will use these months of rest to rebuild his body and come back next season a more valuable player.

His career may not wind down with a sunset ride into an NBA championship, but Bryant assuredly wants to write a better final chapter than this. Look for him to use this shutdown as an opportunity to make that happen.

Follow Tyler Conway (@tylerconway22) on Twitter.