Lakers Rumors: Kobe Bryant is Healthy and His Hops Are Back

There hasn't been much positive news coming out surrounding the Los Angeles Lakers since the NBA lockout came to an end.

Since that time, they failed to acquire Chris Paul, they gave away Lamar Odom to the Dallas Mavericks and they've managed to irritate Kobe Bryant.

Not exactly a productive start heading into the season.

But there is encouraging news surrounding Bryant and the Lakers and that has to do with Bryant's knees.

According to Yahoo's Marc Spears, Bryant's "hops are back" and he looks completely healthy entering the season.

He's been seen dunking hard and often so far in camp, and if Bryant can add the explosiveness back to his game, it adds another dimension to the Lakers offense.

Bryant has lost some of his explosiveness the past few seasons, but has effectively replaced that with maturity and his high basketball IQ. He's always played hard and done everything it takes to win.

If his legs are feeling good, Bryant is even tougher to guard.

Are the hops back?

Only time will tell. The NBA regular season schedule could be brutal for a guy like Bryant who's not exactly young and plays a ton of minutes on a nightly basis.

There are back-to-back-to-back situations and several cases where the Lakers will play six games in the matter of eight nights.

That could take a toll on the legs and the hops of Bryant.

We will see how that plays out, but it's a good thing early on that Bryant appears to be totally healthy.