Kobe Bryant, Los Angeles Lakers Walking into the Unknown Together

Kobe Bryant will return to action next season at age 37 after rehabbing from surgery to repair a torn rotator cuff in his right shoulder.

The question on almost everyone's mind is a familiar one: What kind of player will he be in his 20th and presumably final year in the league? 

The answer is far from certain as Kobe and the Los Angeles Lakers take a walk into the unknown together.

Intrinsically linked to the question is another: What must the Los Angeles Lakers do before then to ensure any form of success for a franchise centerpiece who has done so much for the organization?

Bryant can’t do it on his own—this season certainly showed that. And yet, the ultimate warrior has never been one to abide with players who don’t measure up to his own competitive nature.

Paired with talent, the five-time NBA champion can be part of a collective effort and thus deliver the most efficient and maximum mileage until his career finally comes to a close.

But without effective pieces around him, the Mamba will surely try to push the boulder on his own up those mountains and will ultimately be crushed by the effort.

If one thing is certain, it is this: that one of the true basketball greats deserves to go out on his own terms—unrelenting and always striving for something more.

Bryant recently made the media rounds, talking about hoops, his own basketball future and his upcoming Showtime documentary series Kobe Bryant's Muse, premiering Feb. 28.

During an interview on NBA TV with Ahmad Rashad (portions also viewable on Lakers.com), Bryant was asked if the injuries ever become too much.“It happens all the time,” he responded. “It happens for me now with the shoulder and stuff, and being in the doctor’s office and being told it’s a nine-month process. ‘I just did this, I just did this…I just did nine months, and now I have to do it again?’”

But the veteran shooting guard is committed to the process, adding. “I don’t know if I can. I want to find out, I want to see.”

Bryant also admitted he no longer has the same speed or athleticism as he once did, but he pointed out other great players who evolved as they aged, including Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, Jerry West and Oscar Robertson: 

"

For me to look at where I am now and say, 'I don’t have the physical abilities that I had back then,' doesn’t mean I can’t still be dominant or a great player. There’s been plenty of players in the league who haven’t had that speed or athleticism, that still have been able to dominate. So why can’t I?

"

Then again, this is the same conversation Bryant was having when he came back from a torn Achilles tendon in 2013 and a fractured knee in 2014. The intention now is as it was then—to acknowledge the vagaries of time and work within an adjusted framework.

And hopefully, to cross—and possibly extend—the finish line.

However, the realities of the Lakers as they currently exist, combined with Bryant’s competitive instincts, have altered pragmatic intentions.

After coming back this season, No. 24 went through a blitzkrieg of minutes and shot attempts during the month of November, averaging 27.3 points, 5.8 rebounds and 4.7 assists in 37.1 minutes per game. But while his scoring totals were impressive, his 39 percent field-goal average was the lowest of his career.

And then there was the toll those heavy minutes took, ultimately forcing him into an ineffective pattern of playing some games and resting in just as many. Constantly in and out of the lineup, it was impossible for Bryant to re-establish his rhythm. 

Byron Scott conceded the fault for mismanaging Bryant’s minutes was his own. “I didn’t take into serious consideration of him missing almost a whole year and him just getting back playing,” Scott said, according to Mark Medina of the Los Angeles Daily News. “I should’ve figured out that would have taken time.”

During the on-again/off-again period that followed, Bryant showed more balance by relying on teammates even as losses continued to mount. In the month of January, he averaged 14 points, 7.0 rebounds and 7.8 assists in 31 minutes per game. Still, his shooting average was even worse than before, at 37 percent over that six-game period—evidence perhaps of a shoulder that was becoming increasingly damaged.

“I just kept tearing it more and more,” Bryant said during the NBA TV interview.

The aging face of the Lakers franchise will get the chance to try once more next season. And again, the question is more about how a support structure can help Bryant succeed in his waning NBA moments.

Christian Petersen/Getty Images

The best model for this has been Team USA during the 2012 Summer Olympics. Surrounded by players like LeBron James, Kevin Durant, Kevin Love, Carmelo Anthony, Chris Paul, Russell Westbrook and others, Bryant was able to be effective in limited minutes—being a veteran part of elite athletes in their prime.

That sort of superteam can’t exist in today’s NBA, of course. The financial restraints of the current collective bargaining agreement are aimed at organizational parity.

And to be honest, there will not be a wealth of readily available top stars this summer.

The Lakers will be lucky to sign one elite free agent as they continue trying to rebuild a roster for life after Kobe.

But with few guaranteed contracts, the upcoming draft and money to spend, management should at least be able to build a better roster than the one responsible for a current record of 14-41.

What can purple and gold fans expect from their franchise man?

Even the Man doesn’t have the answer—especially when it comes to the ending part.

Appearing on the Grantland Basketball Hour with Bill Simmons and Jalen Rose (full podcast here), Bryant spoke about all things basketball, as well as the if and when of retirement.

“At what point do you say enough is enough, it’s time to walk away from this thing?” Bryant mused. “I don’t know if that moment ever truly exists.”

But to make the most out of each and every moment before the final curtain, one thing is clear—Kobe needs help now more than ever.

If the Lakers can build a roster that stops leaking points like a sieve, and if they can add some scoring firepower, Bryant will have the chance to do less while achieving more.

Success is also dependent on getting players who buy into the historic Lakers culture of accepting nothing less than NBA Finals appearances.

All this is much preferable to the alternative—a defiant Bryant deciding to shoot the works until his clip is empty and his body broken.

Hopefully, it won’t come to that.

The Lakers owe more to this basketball legend in his 20th and likely final season.