How would you fix the Lakers?

It takes about 1.5-2 months to heal and then 3 more months to build your leg muscles back up

A whole different issue is the Lakers salary cap and his huge salary and the 'amnesty' arrangement they'd be facing. Lakers are looking to trim salary and could be facing a public relations nightmare.

sorry..100% what?

One has to wonder, was there ever a point when Coach Mike D'Antoni considered giving Bryant a rest? Especially in this game, when earlier he dropped twice to the floor?

Bryant's pain began early in the third quarter, when he seemingly bruised his left knee when sandwiched between Barnes and Festus Ezeli on a layup attempt. He lay on the ground several long minutes. When he finally arose, a relieved crowd chanted, "MVP," and, yes, he is the MVP this season simply for being able to stand tall amid this mess.

Then, midway through the third quarter, Bryant banged his other knee, limping alone down the court in obvious pain, and everyone chanting "MVP" again. It's as if, at some point, the fans weren't just adoring him, but feeling sorry for him.

Yet not once did Bryant come out of the game, just as he has rarely rested in recent games as the Lakers have battled the Utah Jazz for the final playoff spot.

"It was all necessary," said Bryant of his playing time. "It was just a freak situation."

Was it necessary? Would Phil Jackson have deemed it necessary? Did the combination of an uncertain D'Antoni and a stubborn Bryant just blow up all over the Lakers' future?

they're saying 6-9 months...

Do I have the consistent will to overcome this thing? Maybe I should break out the
rocking chair and reminisce on the career that was. Maybe this is how my book ends.
Maybe Father Time has defeated me...

When D'antoni gets fired after this season

To waive Kobe in July would be to tacitly acknowledge that because of his injury he is not worth his salary in 2013-14. To acknowledge that the franchise and its brand new leader,Jim Buss, doesn't believe Kobe can come back from the surgery stronger, better, more valuable. How do you think Kobe responds to acknowledgments like that from a franchise to which he has given 17 years and five rings?

He wages war.

I think many things about Jim Buss, some of them probably true and most of them probably exaggerated. But I don't think he's stupid enough to spark that war. Phil Jackson is one thing. Kobe Bryant? The city of Los Angeles has already to some extent turned on the Jim and Chaz era. You heard them chant "We want Phil!" earlier this month. But that would be nothing -- NOTHING -- compared to the wrath fans would unleash if Buss sparked a war between Kobe and the franchise. And I just don't think Jim is stupid enough to risk it.

So no, I don't believe the Lakers will use the amnesty clause on Kobe. It just wouldn't end well.

The Lakers have one of the strongest and most admired franchises in professional sports, but they are consistently held hostage by a single jersey with a singular vow to fly his team to the playoffs even as the strains of all 17 seasons dragged him to the floor.

In interviews a day after Bryant's season ended in the final minutes of a victory over the Golden State Warriors on Friday, it was obvious that important people on the Lakers were worried about him, yet nobody could stop him. It seems everybody saw an accident like this happening, but nobody was strong enough to throw their bodies in front of the dazzling No. 24 as it careened toward calamity.

In the end, Kobe Bryant's greatness became his curse. He had become so big, so influential, so admired, even the most powerful sports organization in Los Angeles was afraid to tell him no.
.
.
There was always only one person who could keep Bryant on the bench. If you want to blame someone here, blame the Lakers basketball boss who failed to bring this guy home.

Once again, if only Jimmy Buss had not snubbed Phil Jackson earlier this season before hiring D'Antoni. Those who say the former Lakers coach could not have kept Bryant rested and perhaps healthy are ignoring history.

Seven straight games of at least 40 minutes? When Jackson was coaching in 2008-09, Bryant needed three months to rack up seven games of 40 minutes. When Jackson was coaching in 2010, Bryant didn't even play seven straight games of 40 minutes in the seven-game Finals series against Boston.

The Lakers have long known they had a different sort of player in Bryant. They have long realized that only one man could truly handle him. When Buss failed to bring Jackson back this season, he not only let down Lakers fans, he also let down Bryant, who, for the foreseeable future, will sadly stay down.

Lakers Coach Mike D'Antoni will be back next season, General Manager Mitch Kupchak said Wednesday.

"Yeah, he's back. I think he's done a great job," Kupchak told The Times. "There's been no discussions otherwise.

After nearly two seasons in retirement, Phil Jackson has become increasingly interested in
working in the NBA next season, according to sources familiar with his thinking.

That doesn't necessarily mean a return to coaching, as Jackson is known to be intrigued by
the concept of moving into management for the first time in his career.

But sources told ESPN.com this week that Jackson is "itching" to go back to work after a
long spell to recharge since leaving the Los Angeles Lakers' bench following the 2010-11
season.

Sources stressed that there is no specific opportunity in play yet for Jackson, who resisted
coaching overtures from the Brooklyn Nets earlier this season and told longtime confidant
Charley Rosen in January in a SheridanHoops.com story that he "has no intention of ever
coaching again."

But NBA coaching sources say that stance will not dissuade teams with openings from
approaching Jackson this offseason to gauge his interest, with the Nets and Cleveland
Cavaliers -- who interviewed Jackson in 2005 and are known to be contemplating a coaching
change -- potentially at the top of the list.

What has Jackson really intrigued, sources say, is the opportunity to oversee an organization
in the patriarchal style of Pat Riley with the Miami Heat or in a role similar to that previously
held by Larry Bird with the Indiana Pacers.

But it remains to be seen if a team will give him that sort of chance, given that the 67-year-
old Jackson is the most successful coach in league history with 11 championship rings and
has never held a prominent NBA personnel job.