Understanding the Financial Cost of Kobe Bryant’s Season Ending Injury

• Post By: Jeff Stotts
• Date: March 12, 2014
• Category: NBA, Understanding...

The Lakers announced today that Kobe Bryant will not play for the remainder of the 2013-14 season. Bryant, who suffered a fractured tibia plateau in just his sixth game of the season, simply ran out of time. The injury has not surprisingly been slow to heal and after a recent examination Wednesday the team officially ended his year. His attempted comeback and knee fracture have been detailed here on InStreetClothes.com but Bryant can now shift his focus on preparing for next season. He will work closely with medical professionals to insure his knee is strong and there is no cascade effect on his surgically-repaired Achilles. However the multiple injuries have cost the Lakers, both on and off the court.

As a team the Lakers have struggled without their MVP in the lineup, amassing a record of 20-38 in games he missed. They didn’t perform much better when he did play, going 2 -4 following his return from Achilles surgery.  Now the team sits tied with Sacramento and Utah for the worst record in the Western Conference and only Orlando, Philadelphia, and Milwaukee sit below them in the standings.

Even worse is the financial cost of the injury. With an annual salary of $30, 453,000 the cost of the final bill for Kobe’s 76 missed games will come to $28, 244,732 dollars and qualify as the highest single season loss to injury in NBA history. ESPN’s Darren Rovell reports that the NBA’s insurance will only cover $4.75 million of Kobe’ salary, meaning the team remains on the hook for a little over $23 million. Even with insurance the total remains a bigger bill than any other single season in NBA history. The reason for the high number is the historically high amount of money Bryant was owed this season. This year Kobe joined Michael Jordan as the only two players in NBA history to make more than $30 million in salary for a single season.

By comparison Bryant’s 2013-2014 is $11 million more than the Bulls spent on Derrick Rose last year, insurance excluded. It is also higher total than the Thunder and the Suns have lost to injury in the previous five seasons combined.

The financial impact of the injury goes beyond Bryant’s salary. Both total and average attendance for home Lakers games is on pace to finish at their lowest totals since the 2004-05 season, the last time the Lakers failed to make the playoff and the team’s first year following the Shaquille O’Neal trade. Average attendance on the road is also significantly down and on pace to be the lowest in the Kobe Bryant Era. These numbers suggest other teams are feeling the effects of Bryant’s absence. Furthermore the LA Times recently reported that the TV rating for the Lakers are at an all-time low, further impacting the total cost.

Kobe Bryant will be back next season. His work ethic and determination are stronger than most and will help him attack rehabilitation. A motivated Mamba is extremely dangerous and he’s already planning on proving his doubters wrong. However the financial sting of his lost 2013-14 season will linger and even the mighty Lakers will find $23 million difficult to swallow.