I spoke to a die hard Kobe fan(who also kinda knows him on a personal level). I felt that he just doesn't have faith in the roster to leave them Kobeless for 3 months or however long to win games. They have a great roster, but Kobe is the centerpiece there obviously. He makes the other players better by getting them open shots b/c teams triple team him. Either way, it's a smart move for him as long as it doesn't get worse and start messing with his shot.