Los Angeles Lakers guard Kobe Bryant might be playing with a torn ligament in his right wrist, but at least his chronically bothersome right knee is in great shape.
“It’s as close to 100 percent as it’s going to get,” said Bryant before the Lakers hosted the New York Knicks on Thursday.
Bryant, usually loathsome to discuss his injuries and protective that his medical procedures are kept private, opened up about his health status when asked about New York Yankees slugger Alex Rodriguez’s recent trip to Germany to be treated by the same physician that Bryant visited in the offseason.
“I gave him the phone number,” Bryant said, revealing he recommended Peter Wehling to treat the Yankee star’s knee and shoulder after experiencing success when his own right knee and left ankle were treated by Wehling. “I just told him it made a huge difference for me. I’m 95 percent better, if not to say 100.”
It was the fourth procedure that Bryant, 33, has undergone on the knee since 2003, but it was less invasive than other surgeries, as it centered around blood manipulation rather than removing any loose bodies or frayed ligaments.
While the 16-year veteran is reporting a clean bill of health when it comes to his knee, the wrist remains a work in progress.
— Reported by Dave McMenamin of ESPN Los Angeles
