Kobe Bryant's ability to internalize pain and push through it is legendary, and Lakers physical therapist Judy Seto confirmed that belief in a talk with SI.com's Chris Ballard.
Seto described Bryant's ability to play through pain and focus, and she used Bryant's Achilles injury as an example. Bryant crumpled to the floor, picked himself up and finished shooting two free throws.
"It's the highest that I've ever seen. He channels his focus so well in terms of just the task at hand. But also when he's had pain, he can block that out. I mean, I think a good example is when he tore his Achilles, he made those free throws. He blocked it out and focused. He didn't let his mind go to the place of, 'Oh, my gosh.' At one time it was a career-ending injury. Your mind starts to wander and go down that road. Everyone around you, the distraction, not only your team is wondering how you're doing, the other team, the game, the fans in the stands, everything.
"But he just focused on this. I think that's what makes him who he is. I mean, he can take that and just block everything else out, including pain. Like I said, he's not a reckless person. He wasn't going to cause more damage by going out there and shooting his free throws. It was fine for him to do that. It's just amazing.
Anyone who has ever gone to the hospital for an injury, knows that they asked your pain level based on a scale of 1-10. That chart does not apply to Bryant, Seto describes.
"I don't even ask him. He just looks at me. 'Why are you even asking me this? What's the point?' So there's no point in asking him, 'How bad is your pain?' He would just go, 'Why are you asking me about my pain? Just take care of whatever the problem is and let me get back to what I need to do, or I can't do it, so tell me I can't, then we'll deal with it.'
"It's kind of like useless. I mean, I'll have to ask him, 'Does it hurt?' I have an obligation to ask. But I don't think I've asked on a scale of zero to ten how much it hurts because it doesn't matter for him."