Was this a surprise to anybody?

Los Angeles Lakers star shooting guard Kobe Bryant has announced that the chances of him playing in tonight's season opener has reached 85 percent. Sam Amick, among various NBA writers, tweeted the following.

Kobe Bryant says at shootaround that the odds of him playing tonight in the season opener against Dallas are "85 percent."
— Sam Amick (@sam_amick) October 30, 2012

With a percentage that high, it is highly anticipated that Bryant will indeed play in the opener. The Lakers official Twitter account tweeted the following at around the same time.

Kobe Bryant said he was able to participate fully in shootaround this morning and WILL play tonight against the Mavs. twitter.com/Lakers/status/…
— Los Angeles Lakers (@Lakers) October 30, 2012

After playing with bad knees, broken fingers and pretty much any injury you could throw at him, Bryant will yet again play as an injured player. The Lakers are coming off a highly revered off-season in which they managed to bring in Steve Nash and Dwight Howard, who are seemingly opposites. Nash is old and an excellent free throw shooter. Howard is young, and not nearly as good. Nash is a point guard and dishes out dimes. Howard is a center and crashes the boards. The polarity of these two players aligned with Kobe Bryant will without a doubt create an interesting season for the Lakers.
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