Kobe Bryant is the old guy on Team USA. At 33 he’s four years older than the next older player on the team and has been in the league five years longer than anyone else. Kobe looked like he slowed down two seasons ago, then had a bit of a rejuvenation this season. Kobe talked to reporters including Jeremiah Tittle of the Guardian this week as Team USA gets ready for the Olympics and reiterated how good his knees feel thanks to the Orthokine procedure A.K.A. the magical German knee thing.
“I’ve spoken to other baseball players, other [American] football players about it. It did wonders for me. It’s not just for your knees, but anything arthritic. So, the doctors came up with this [Orthokine] procedure which can act as a replacement of cartilage. For me, the results have been astonishing. I can run. I can train. I can do everything that I wanted to do without limping, my knee getting swollen or anything of that nature.
Brandon Roy had the same procedure done, as did Grant Hill. Andre Bynum also talked during the season about having it done as well. There’s no telling how well it will work for those players because each guy’s problems and bodies are a little different, but it seems to be doing the trick for Kobe at least for now. Still, his shooting numbers did drop last year and he’s not nearly the defender he used to be, so let’s not pretend like this procedure is a magic elixir. Kobe also said he lost 15 pounds since the end of the season to take a load off his knees since he expects to be playing until next June. Of course he does.
