“I gotta get my fat ass back in shape too!”
—Kobe Bryant, speaking about his return, via Serena Winters of Lakers Nation.
Kobe said he needs about three weeks of “rigorous conditioning.” Not so coincidentally, it is about three weeks until the start of the NBA season. He also said he hasn’t done anything explosive yet and only light jumping. He is running at 100 percent body weight now, which is a good sign. But jogging on a treadmill is a continent away from the kind of running and cutting one does in a basketball game. Can Kobe cover that ground in three weeks and be ready for opening night? We’ll see.
These quotes come out of the Kobe talking to the media Wednesday, where he echoed a lot of the themes he covered on the Lakers broadcast when he spoke with Mike Trudell Tuesday. No, he has no timeline for his return. No, he does not know if he’ll be ready opening night, he just wants to keep his options open. Yes, he feels ahead of schedule. No, he hasn’t had any soreness since his return.
