Kobe Bryant Return & Injury Update: Mamba Doesn't Seem to be 'Better' as LA Lakers Lose to Phoenix

"They will never grow tired of Kobe Bryant in these parts, even if he can't return to Black Mamba form," declared USA Today in the wake of the LA Lakers' 114-108 loss to the Phoenix Suns Tuesday night.

This remark targeted the "cultish bond" Lakers fans have for their star player hero; Mamba's disciples were seen stuck to their seats even as some of the audience, including celebrities, headed out of the Staples Center even before the game ended - with 43.6 seconds remaining, to be exact. Loyal fans were rewarded with a Kobe Bryant video, where the 35-year-old player talked of mundane things such as his favorite cell phone app and movies - things that his followers still find interesting and worth their continued adulation.

Bryant's team fell for the second consecutive time after the NBA star's return to the playing roster. He had been recuperating from surgery done to remedy his Achilles tendon injury, which was acquired last season. As a result of Tuesday's game, which saw him scoring 20 points and on a 6-of-11 shooting average, Bryant "gave himself a B," Jeff Zillgitt of USA Today Sports noted. This is an improvement over his first run with the Lakers on Sunday, which the Mamba thought was a grade F performance.

"Right now, we're struggling," confessed Mike D'Antoni, Lakers coach. "I think we're struggling with our psyche, we're struggling with who we are. It's a little understandable, but we've got to get over this quickly.

"It's going to be up to the coaching staff and the players to figure this out and get better individually. Each guy has to do his part. Get better individually, and then we as a coaching staff have got to figure out combinations and get the chemistry back," D'Antoni added.

Improving his game, Bryant said, is "a process." "You just have to figure out what you can and can't do. Every game, just try and step out and do a little more and do a little more and go from there," he explained.

"Physically, it doesn't make any sense for me to be on the top of the floor a lot...It's part of the evolution, is figuring out what we have and how to adjust around that," he concluded.

According to the Los Angeles Times, his baseline dunk was the "highlight of Bryant's night."

"I didn't know if I was going to make it above the rim or not but I figured I would just try," Bryant revealed.