Kobe Bryant Injured His Achilles, Out For the Season in Lakers win

Kobe Bryant‘s season ended last night during the Lakers 118-116 win over the Warriors. Kobe went down late in the 4th with an Achilles injury. While Kobe awaits an MRI, the Achilles is either torn or ruptured and the Lakers will have to finish their season without him. After the injury, Bryant returned to the game to hit two free throws before he was helped to the locker room.

Kobe pushed his fraying body and his Los Angeles Lakers teammates relentlessly through the second half of a vital game until he felt a searing pain in his left heel.

Bryant’s Achilles’ tendon apparently is torn. His season likely is over.

And though the Lakers held on to beat Golden State, Bryant thinks they’ll have to continue their playoff chase without their leader.

Bryant scored 34 points while playing much of the second half in obvious pain with an injured left leg, eventually leaving with 3:06 to play in the Lakers’ 118-116 win over the Warriors on Friday night.

Bryant hyperextended his left knee early in the half, but didn’t come out while the Lakers chased a victory they needed to stay one game ahead of Utah for the eighth playoff spot in the West. Bryant said he hurt himself more seriously on a move he’s made countless times in his career while driving to the hoop.

He got the ball on the perimeter, stuck out his leg and pushed off his left foot to drive past Harrison Barnes. Bryant didn’t make it two steps before he fell to the court in obvious pain while Barnes was called for a foul, but Bryant stayed in the game long enough to hit his free throws before trainer Gary Vitti helped him to the locker room.

“I can’t walk,” Bryant said solemnly, leaning on crutches in the Lakers’ locker room. “I tried to maybe put pressure on my heel, but there was nothing there.”

Immediately after the game, the Lakers announced Bryant probably had a torn tendon. He will have an MRI exam Saturday, but Bryant knows the injury is likely to end his season.

Bryant called it the most disappointing injury of his career “by far. We worked so hard to put ourselves in position and control our fate.”

The fourth-leading scorer in NBA history has been ferociously competitive down the stretch of the Lakers’ tumultuous season. While Pau Gasol and Steve Nash have missed long stretches of play with injuries, and while Dwight Howard struggled to get to full strength after last year’s back surgery, Bryant played through a sprained ankle and countless minor woes.

“I hate it for Kobe,” Lakers coach Mike D’Antoni said. “I hate it for us. I hate it for L.A., but you have to close ranks. There’s no going back now. … He’s just an unbelievable player with a heart, and it is unbelievable.”

After playing all 48 minutes while scoring 47 points in Portland on Wednesday, Bryant pushed the Lakers relentlessly forward on one good leg against the playoff-bound Warriors. Golden State got 47 points from Stephen Curry in a dynamic performance, but Bryant led a 9-0 run by hitting consecutive 3-pointers to tie it at 107 with 3:47 left.