It seems like every year Kobe Bryant sustains a painful injury on one of his fingers. But because a finger does not seem to be as serious as say a knee, NBA fans tend to overlook the injuries that Kobe Bryant is playing through. Recently the OC Register posted an image on their Lakers blog in a blog post titled ‘Kobe Handles Ball and Pain’. This image is a little shocking at first. It gives you an idea of how messed up Kobe’s shooting hand really is and truly makes you appreciate how tough the guy is. Here is the image from their game against the Toronto Raptors recently.

Ouch! Are you serious? You can see the bandage over his broken right index finger that he sustained earlier this season. And you can see that mangled right pinky that Is barely grasping onto the basketball. That’s the pinky he first busted 2 seasons ago against the New Jersey Nets during a regular season game which has not only never healed correctly, but continues to get re-injured time and time again with each passing season.

How Is He Still Shooting the Ball?

I am totally surprised he is still able to shoot the basketball at all. Over the past three games Kobe’s injured fingers along with spasms in his back have limited his game. With all this however he has still managed to shoot an incredible 55% from the field in the past 3 games while his injures have lingered the most. Absolutely incredible. How in the world has this guy managed to shoot 55% from the field with two fingers on his shooting hand completely inoperable?

The answer is simple. Only Kobe Bryant in this past decade has proven year in and year out that he can not only play through injuries, but continue to dominate the league with his scoring and offensive prowess through those same injuries. For NBA fans around the world this type of thing may seem new and admirable. But for Kobe Bryant fans we have been seeing him do this kind of thing for the past 10 years. It’s no surprise to us.