Kobe's surgery - shoulder or knee?

[VF21]

The 57 pages of transcripts about the initial discussions the police had with Kobe have been published all over the Internet.

Aside from all the stuff about the charges he eventually faced, I found something I didn't think had been discussed. Here are some excerpts:

Det. Loya: So where’s your room at?
Bryant: It’s all the way on the other side man, I can’t walk there.
Det. Loya: If we take it slow, can we ...?
Bryant: That’s a long walk.
Detective Winters: We’ll just take it real slow.
Det. Loya: Did you have ...
Detective Winters: Whatever you want to do.
Det. Loya: Did you have knee surgery today or ...?
Bryant: Yes I did just today. (Inaudible) come on please.
Det. Loya: What they do, what they do?
Bryant: Um, cartilage.

And later...

Detective Loya: Can we, can we keep walking to your room? Which way, is it this way?
Detective Winters: What I’d like to do is I’d like to get a little better, I’d like to get out of here, I don’t want people starting to call people, start calling people and go (inaudible)...
Bryant: (Inaudible).
Detective Loya: Will you, will you let your security guards know you’re okay, and you don’t need em?
Bryant: Yeah. What did she (inaudible).
Detective Loya: Okay, well let’s talk about that in your room Kobe.
Detective Winters: Yeah.
Bryant: (Inaudible). What she (inaudible)
Detective Winters: Well for one, you just had your knee operated on today and I don’t want to keep you standing out here.
Bryant: (Inaudible).
Detective Loya: Let’s go to your room and then we’ll talk in detail, how’s that?

And a little later:

Detective Winters: What kind of surgery did you have?
Bryant: Orthoscopic.
Detective Winters: ACL or NCL?
Bryant: Cartilage.
Detective Loya: Do they send everybody out here for ... for it?
Bryant: No it’s just um, we did a lot of research and found out that these guys are the best.
Detective Winters: Have you been keeping it because I haven’t heard anything really about it.
Bryant: Yeah, we’re trying to keep it quiet, (inaudible) my shoulder operated on.

There's more but my question is WHY would the Lakers put out a false report on what type of surgery Kobe had?

 

[Elise10]

I'm not sure if the Lakers put a false report on his surgery, although I don't think Kobe really wanted to tell the Lakers that he was getting his knee scoped.

 

[VF21]

That's the part I don't understand. A player lying to his team about a surgical procedure? I don't think so... I'm reasonably sure that would be violating his contract.

Am I mistaken or at least once or twice during the year did the announcers make a big deal about Kobe playing through after hard hits to "the shoulder that had been operated on," etc.?

Well, if he took hits to the shoulder and acted as if he was being the brave little soldier in playing through the pain because it was the "shoulder that had been operated on," then that's a pretty involved set of falsehoods.

 

[Superman]

His shoulder was definitely operated on. I remember that. I also remember something about him getting surgery without the Lakers knowing about it - or something. That may have been the knee surgery.

 

[Elise10]

That's the part I don't understand. A player lying to his team about a surgical procedure? I don't think so... I'm reasonably sure that would be violating his contract.

Am I mistaken or at least once or twice during the year did the announcers make a big deal about Kobe playing through after hard hits to "the shoulder that had been operated on," etc.?

Well, if he took hits to the shoulder and acted as if he was being the brave little soldier in playing through the pain because it was the "shoulder that had been operated on," then that's a pretty involved set of falsehoods.

Here's the info about his shoulder:
http://espn.go.com/nba/news/2003/0605/1563822.html

To the Lakers, it was the shoulder. I guess to Kobe it was both.

 

[Mad D]

Here's the info about his shoulder:
http://espn.go.com/nba/news/2003/0605/1563822.html

To the Lakers, it was the shoulder. I guess to Kobe it was both.

i clicked on that link, but before i got to read the story it took me to that stupid Macy Gray commercial >_<

 

[Elise10]

i clicked on that link, but before i got to read the story it took me to that stupid Macy Gray commercial >_<

I'm sorry Mad D.......I wouldn't expose that commercial to anyone on purpose.

they took a great song and tarnished it by letting her "sing" it.

 

[VF21]

That article says there is shoulder damage that MIGHT result in surgery...I haven't bothered to Google for "official" reports about the outcome of the procedure, etc. and I don't recall off-hand seeing any, but it could have been because that part of his trip very quickly became minor compared to the other events.

I know I'm probably obsessing on this, but I still find it pretty bothersome that at some point the public wasn't just misled. There were blatant lies and no mention of the knee surgery at all that I've been able to locate...

 

[VF21]

Oops. Well I feel stupid...

I just Googled Kobe+Bryant+knee+surgery and got a gazillion hits.

So, in the words of Emily Latella,

"Never mind..."

 

[Gargamel]

I believe Superman is correct about Kobe not asking for permission to have the knee scoped. I heard that too, if my memory serves me. Don't know if it's a contractual no-no, but it did bother the Laker brass that he would do it without consulting with the team doctor. Then again, it is Kobe's knee. Also, it was the Lakers team doc that Malone was frustrated with a year later after his own knee surgery.

In retrospect, I wish Kobe would just have found another city to have his knee scoped, if you catch my drift.

 

[Lamar_Odom]

That article says there is shoulder damage that MIGHT result in surgery...I haven't bothered to Google for "official" reports about the outcome of the procedure, etc. and I don't recall off-hand seeing any, but it could have been because that part of his trip very quickly became minor compared to the other events.

I know I'm probably obsessing on this, but I still find it pretty bothersome that at some point the public wasn't just misled. There were blatant lies and no mention of the knee surgery at all that I've been able to locate...

It's not the first time a player keeps this type of information for his team, and it certainly is not the last. "Hiding" surgeries by players have been done by other players before Kobe did it. And after Kobe, there will be more.