Kobe Bryant will finally return to the LA Lakers line-up after spending his last two seasons on the sidelines, mostly. Now that he has completely recovered from his injury.

With almost two seasons removed from his career, fans can expect Kobe Bryant to bounce back big time and play with renewed passion. Just ask his new teammate, Brandon Bass, who believes that Kobe is still the best player in the NBA.

He said that Kobe is 'arguably' the best player in an interview with Terrance Harris of the New Orleans Times-Picayune. Although it might be a bit biased, here's his explanation why he thinks so.

"We have arguably the best player in the game still," Bass said. "When (Bryant) is healthy he is a monster still. If he is healthy he's right up there with the best players in the league, that's LeBron or whoever the best players in the league are. When Kobe is healthy, 19 years in the game he is still elite."

Now, some analysts decided to take a point on what Bass said. Grantland's Zach Lowe said that Kobe's defense has been extremely bad the past two seasons. Of course, Bryant has been injured but for the sake of it, he allowed opponents to score on high field goal accuracy and when he was in those games, the points allowed is higher compared to when he is sitting on the bench.

"Bryant, as the whole Internet (including this corner of it) has noted repeatedly, has been an irresponsible off-ball defender all season," said Lowe. "He gambles out of scheme whenever he feels like it, often turning his back completely to his man, and several of Washington's 11 3s during the Lakers' home loss to the Wiz on Friday were the direct result of Bryant deciding he didn't want to play team defense any longer."