EL SEGUNDO, California (AP) – Kobe Bryant had surgery Saturday on his torn Achilles tendon, ending his season with two games left in the Los Angeles Lakers’ playoff chase.

Lakers trainer Gary Vitti thinks Bryant will need at least six to nine months for recovery from the most serious injury of his 17-year NBA career. Given Bryant’s history of swift recovery from countless minor injuries, Vitti and Lakers general manager Mitch Kupchak both believe the 34-year-old guard could be back for their season opener in the fall.

“I think that’s a realistic goal for him, based on what he was talking about this morning,” Kupchak said at the Lakers’ training complex after visiting Bryant at the Kerlan-Jobe Orthopaedic Clinic.

Bryant completely tore his left Achilles tendon late in the Lakers’ 118-116 win over Golden State on Friday night, falling to the hardwood after pushing off his planted foot in an ordinary move toward the hoop. Although he stayed in the game to hit two tying free throws with 3:08 to play, Bryant’s season was over.

Bryant’s foot will be immobilised for about a month to prevent him from stretching out the tendon, followed by a lengthy rehabilitation process. Nobody knows how the injury will affect Bryant’s play, but his decision to have surgery less than 24 hours after getting hurt suggests he’s determined to get back on top swiftly.

While the rest of the Lakers prepared for their final two regular-season games in a tumultuous season, Bryant’s injury left many Lakers fans wondering whether the club had done enough to protect Bryant from himself.

Bryant fought back tears in the locker room moments after learning his tendon was torn, and he wrote a lengthy Facebook post about his injury early Saturday morning, saying his “frustration is unbearable.”

“Why the hell did this happen ?!?” Bryant wrote. “Makes no damn sense. Now I’m supposed to come back from this and be the same player Or better at 35?!? How in the world am I supposed to do that?? “

He added: “Maybe this is how my book ends. Maybe Father Time has defeated me…Then again maybe not!”

“One day, the beginning of a new career journey will commence. Today is NOT that day.”

Bryant’s spirits had improved by the time he got to the hospital, where he put photos of himself going into an MRI machine and preparing for surgery.