Kobe Bryant's Ankle Injury Will Provide Long-Term Benefits to Lakers
The Los Angeles Lakers know that one day they will have to prepare for life without Kobe Bryant. While there is still time for the franchise to prepare for that moment down the line, they will have an opportunity to see what the future looks like.
Bryant was injured on the final play of the Lakers' loss on Wednesday night at Atlanta. According to Sam Amick of USA Today Sports, the team is saying that Bryant "will be out indefinitely," which is incredibly vague.
Talking to reporters after the game, Bryant said that this is as bad an ankle injury as he has ever had (via Mike Trudell of Lakers.com)
While no one doubts that Bryant will play the split second his body allows him to, possibly even on Friday at Indianapolis because he is a physical freak, the Lakers will finally see what happens to Dwight Howard when you make him the focal point of the offense.
A lot has been made about the relationship between Bryant and Howard this season. Bryant got on Howard for not doing all he can to play through back pain; Howard reportedly mocked Bryant in the locker room during the All-Star festivities in Houston.
But Howard is the future of the team, at least if you think he wants to stay in Los Angeles after this season. His impending free agency will be the biggest storyline to follow in the offseason. If he wants to be the star of the show, now he may get his chance and it could impact his future.
No matter what anyone in the Lakers organization will tell you, this team right now, even as they have crept back into the postseason race as the No. 8 seed in the western conference, is not going to win a championship in 2013.
The depth isn't there, age has been a huge problem for the Lakers all season, and they are not explosive enough to keep up with the likes of Oklahoma City, Los Angeles (the other L.A. team), Memphis, San Antonio and Denver out west.
When you are going through a transition phase, which is what this season has turned into for the Lakers, you need to figure out what the future holds.
Giving Howard a chance to explore what life is like for The Man in Los Angeles is exactly what this franchise needs. If it wants Howard to stay for the next five or six years, he has to feel like he can handle the situation.
For the Lakers, seeing how Howard carries himself in a situation where he is the No. 1 star can impact the way they think when making decisions this offseason.
Bryant's injury just makes the uphill climb to remain in the postseason race this season a little steeper, but it could easily be the best thing that has happened to the Lakers in this disappointing season.
