Personally, I think what Kobe decided to do was very admirable. Professional sports athletes today have seemed to go soft in the past decade or so. Most of the time big time athletes like Kobe Bryant will sit out with even the most insignificant injury being extremely over cautious. In this case Kobe realizes his chances of getting the Lakers back on top with the players around him and puts his own concerns aside.

Kobe’s reasoning for not getting the surgery on his pinky was because he did want the Lakers to pay for the time he would miss. The Lakers MVP referred to it as “company time” in which he shouldn’t be abusing. Although this does seem noble in a way, it may not be the smartest decision in the long run, especially if it only puts him on the injury list during the course of the season. An injury to Kobe could definitely put a big dent in the Lakers plans on getting back to the finals this season.

It is obvious that there is no way the Lakers will win the same amount of games without Kobe Bryant in a Lakers jersey and on the bench, but with Kobe only having about 5 years of his prime left in him, it would be smart to minimize big risks like this.

All and all, you got to love Kobe’s will to win!

Kobe knows as well as I do that the Lakers roster right now is as good and talented as it has ever been while he has been in a Lakers jersey. That is including the Shaq era.

If this team is healthy with Andrew Bynum back to 100% and they keep playing basketball with some solid team chemistry like they did to finish last season, then the Lakers chances of getting back to the finals is looking good!

Like I said, as long Bynum is back at full strength, Kobe’s pinky is not affecting his game and Pau Gasol, Odom and Fisher are playing at the top of their game, the Lakers will return the Lakers to Western Conference dominance again this season.