Los Angeles Lakers trainer Gary Vitti is confident that Kobe Bryant will remain healthy next season after recovering from his second straight major injury.
Vitti told Mike Trudell of NBA.com that he has no doubt in his mind that Bryant, who missed the majority of last season due to a knee injury, will stay fit next season.
The longtime Lakers trainer said that Bryant, who will be playing in his 19th season, knows how to handle his body, while also adding that the way they will play next season under new coach Byron Scott will be favorable to their 35-year-old superstar.
"I have 100 percent confidence that he'll be healthy because of the way he handles his body and the style of play that we'll compete at," Vitti said. "We can't play at a frenetic pace. We can push the ball when it's there, and we can certainly let Kobe create out of the post with his back to the basket at this stage of his career."
Bryant, who also missed the Lakers' campaign in the 2013 NBA Playoffs after sustaining a torn Achilles tendon, played in just six games last season, averaging 13.8 points to go along with 6.3 assists and 4.3 rebounds per game.
Bryant is not getting any younger, making him more prone to injuries. But according to Vitti, the 16-time All-Star has been doing special things to make sure that he'll remain healthy and productive in the remaining seasons of his career.
"He's gone to the next level of nutrition," Vitti said of Bryant. "In fact, he has somebody come and picks his meals up here at the practice facility. Our chef makes his meals daily. He's also done a lot of functional movement assessment over this past year that he's been out, identifying how the way he's played over all these years had created some dysfunction."
Bryant, who has a career average of 25.5 points to go along with 5.3 rebounds and 4.8 assists, signed a two-year, $48.5 million contract with the Lakers last season. He previously said that he would consider retirement after his latest contract expires after the 2015-16 NBA season.
