Kobe Bryant says knee now '100 percent,' will be ready for season

While it was lost to some degree in the interview because the big message was that he didn't care that Mike D'Antoni had been fired, Kobe Bryant quietly provided an update on his health last week.

According to Bryant, he's fully healed and ready to treat the offseason like any other:

From a health standpoint, 100 percent. I started doing a lot of on-court training and so I'm back into my routine. Then I'll start lifting and start doing the running, which I hate. By the time the season comes around, I'll be ready to go.

He doesn't sound enthused about his offseason activities, and it's hard to blame him given that it's his 18th time going through the offseason lull. Still, it has to be a positive that he's doing what's familiar at this time instead of working his way through a recovery process, as he was last offseason and for most of this year.

As you'll surely recall, Bryant managed to play in just six games this season, fracturing his knee shortly after returning from the Achilles injury that ended his 2012-13 season. 

Meanwhile, the Lakers had their worst season since the team moved to L.A. from Minneapolis, posting a 27-55 record. There will be plenty of changes ahead of 2014-15, but Bryant's return to health could be the most important of them all.