NBA MVP Kobe Bryant decides against surgery on his injured pinky

Kobe Bryant will not have surgery on the injured pinky finger that plagued him for much of last year, at least not before the 2008-2009 NBA season gets underway.  The reigning NBA MVP and Olympic gold medal catalyst injured the finger in a game against the New Jersey Nets on February 2, 2008 and was unable to have it operated on earlier due to the Beijing Games.

Bryant suffered damaged ligaments in the pinky finger, but nevertheless managed to play in all 82 regular season games as well as the playoffs.  He had sought the opinion of Dr. James Andrews, considered to be the best in the business at this sort of injury, as well as other medical professionals.  The consensus verdict was that recovery would be in the 12 week range, meaning Bryant would miss the early part of the regular season and all of the Lakers’ training camp.

Kobe indicated that it was this recovery time that prompted his decision:

"When the doctors told me recovery from a procedure could be 12 weeks, I just decided now was not the time to have surgery. What it really came down to for me is that I just didn't want to miss any time 'punching the clock' for the Lakers, given all we are trying to accomplish as a team this NBA season."

A midseason trade for Memphis Grizzlies’ sharpshooter Pau Gasol lit a fire under the Lakers, and they went on to win the Western Conference regular season championship.  Their solid play continued through the NBA playoffs, where they eventually succumbed in the finals to Boston in six games.  The injury to Kobe’s shooting hand finger never really seemed to cause him much difficulty.  His point output dropped over 3 points from the previous year to 28.3 per game, but that could be attributed as much to the presence of another legitimate scoring threat in Gasol or to a more team oriented approach by Bryant as it could his injury.

The Lakers open their training camp on September 27th and begin the NBA regular season at home on October 28, as the Portland Trailblazers invade the Staples Center.  Clearly Lakers’ management and fans are hopeful that Kobe’s pinky can withstand another grueling NBA campaign before necessitating surgery.