Eric Gordon isn't a good player; he's basically the rich man's Nate Robinson. He is shooting uncharacteristically great from the 3 and still isn't very efficient offensively, and his being on the court transforms the Pelicans from a top-10 defense to by far the Association's worst. In addition, he is a constant injury risk. I don't think that Kobe will ever be the same again, and he might not even be an average player anymore, but I'd be surprised if he returns as a worse player the Gordon. In my opinion, the Eric Gordon of old is as much a thing of the past as the Kobe Bryant of yore.