Kobe Bryant tears Achilles, sidelined for months

LOS ANGELES NAMPA/AFP Kobe Bryant underwent surgery to repair a torn Achilles tendon that could sideline the Los Angeles Lakers star for up to nine months, the NBA team announced over the weekend. The 15-time all-star Bryant left the court in agony toward the end of last Friday's 118-116 win over Golden State and later declared his season over. Bryant chose to have immediate surgery to repair the damage to his torn left Achilles, undergoing an operation on Saturday. The successful surgery was performed by Dr Neal ElAttrache and Dr Stephen Lombardo, Lakers spokesman John Black said. Recovery time is expected to be a minimum of six to nine months. Lakers head trainer Gary Vitti described the torn tendon as a third rupture . It is gone. It has to be sewn back together, said Vitti earlier Saturday. Bryant said immediately after the game that he felt a pop as he tried to beat Harrison Barnes to the outside with just over three minutes left in the fourth quarter of Friday night's tight contest. I felt like I got kicked. It is a move I make a million times and pop, Bryant said. Just a freak situation I guess. Bryant later vented in the early morning hours Saturday on his Facebook page saying that he isn't sure he can come back from the injury. This is such BS! All the training and sacrifice just flew out the window with one step that I've done millions of times! Bryant wrote on Facebook. The frustration is unbearable. The anger is rage. Why the hell did this happen?!? Makes no damn sense. Now I'm supposed to come back from this and be the same player or better at 35?!? How in the world am I supposed to do that?? The future Hall of Famer also pondered whether this may be the end for him as an NBA superstar. Maybe this is how my book ends, he wrote. Maybe Father Time has defeated me... Then again maybe not. Bryant had a chance to collect his thoughts and was in a more upbeat mood Saturday afternoon, posting a photo of himself wearing hospital garb and getting ready to go for the surgery. Lookin like Mrs Doubtfire with a jerri curl cap lol (sic). Anesthesia next, he wrote. Meanwhile, Vitti said the Lakers were confident Bryant would return sometime in the 2013-14 season. That's the plan, he said. He's accepted the challenge. For us, the hardest part will be keeping him down.