Kobe expected to be out 9 months following rotator cuff surgery

Los Angeles Lakers superstar Kobe Bryant underwent successful surgery Wednesday to repair a torn rotator cuff in his right shoulder and is expected to need nine months to make a full recovery.

Bryant underwent the approximately two-hour procedure at the Kerlan-Jobe Orthopaedic Clinic in Los Angeles exactly a week after he injured himself in a loss to the New Orleans Pelicans. 

"I expect Kobe to make a full recovery and if all goes as expected, he should be ready for the start of the season," said Dr. Neal ElAttrache, who helped perform the operation. 

It marks the third consecutive season of Bryant's that has ended prematurely. He tore his Achilles tendon toward the end of the 2012-13 season, while the recovery from that injury and a fractured kneecap limited him to six games in 2013-14. 

Lakers head coach Byron Scott said Bryant is, unsurprisingly, motivated to return and prove cynics wrong. 

"As long as you guys (the media) are saying he's done, then he’s going to come back," Scott said, according to Bill Oram of the Orange County Register. "That's the biggest thing with him. I think he proved his point this year that he still has a lot left in the tank. He's still one of the best players in this league."

Bryant, who has one year and $25 million remaining on his contract, ends his season averaging 22.3 points on a career-worst 37.3 percent mark from the field, 5.7 rebounds and 5.6 assists.