Lakers Free Agent News and Rumors: Kobe Bryant Ready to Return, Anticipating Fresh Start
Kobe Bryant is ready to return to action after recovering from a knee injury, and the Los Angeles Lakers superstar is also looking forward to the team's fresh start next season.
Bryant, who sustained a fractured knee just in his sixth game coming off Achilles tendon surgery, told reporters in Brazil that he is already 100 percent healthy and ready to return to training camp.
The 16-time All-Star also said that he is motivated heading into the season, now that most people are already counting him and the Lakers out after a disastrous campaign in the 2013-14 NBA season.
"I'm 100 percent," Bryant said, Fox Sports reported. "This summer I'm training really hard. The organization is working really hard to make sure we have a great team. It's the best time when people count you out."
The Lakers had one of their worst seasons, if not the worst season in franchise history, after only winning 27 games.
Bryant's injury was one of the main reasons why the Lakers became a huge disappointment this year, but the 35-year-old superstar is ready to face the challenges ahead of them.
The Lakers are expected to make big moves this offseason, as only three players have guaranteed contracts for next season.
Aside from Bryant, who signed a two-year, $48.5 million extension in November, only Steve Nash and Robert Sacre are still on contract. Nick Young is expected to opt out, while Kendall Marshall might be released this offseason.
"We only have three players from last year's team signed to contracts right now, including me. We don't have a coach. It's literally like starting from scratch," Bryant said. "It's not really what we have to do better than we did last year, since we have to build the right team to win."
The Lakers are also expected to name a new coach in the coming weeks, and reports indicated that it could be Byron Scott, Kurt Rambis, Alvin Gentry, Mike Dunleavy, or Lionel Hollins.
"That's a very, very tough call to make because unfortunately there are very few great coaches left," Bryant said of the Lakers' coaching search. "It's a very, very short list. We're really going to take our time to pick the right person."
Subscribe to Latin Post!
Sign up for our free newsletter for the Latest coverage!
* This is a contributed article and this content does not necessarily represent the views of latinpost.com