Kobe Bryant has sat out two games already and many wonder how his sore back will affect his play for this season.

Hearing about sore backs is one thing but constantly keeping a player out of the court is another. There are several National Basketball Association (NBA) players who endured the same route, with Larry Bird perhaps the most notable of them all.

A back injury forced the Boston Celtic great to retire back in 1992 and he was only 35-years-old at that time, two years younger than Bryant who is now 37.

A cause for concern is that the nagging back injury seems to be affecting Bryant so much that he has been having a hard time walking. That in all further escalates the cause for concern as Bryant tries to measure himself if he can still endure a regular NBA season and finish it healthy.

Bryant's contract with the Lakers expires after this season and speculations have cropped up left and right on what the long-time Lakers guard plans to do after this season.

There are some who believe he will play on. If he does, Bryant made it clear on countless occasions that he has no plan to play elsewhere other than in Los Angeles.

But a lot of that depends on how the season goes and so far, this bugging back issue is certainly not a good sign. If Bryant sits out more games this season, it will most likely lead to Bryant announcing his retirement by the end of the season.

A worst case scenario would, of course, see Bryant announce his retirement somewhere in the season, which is not far from happening if he is unable to play at the NBA level. So the more he sits out the games, the more likely that Bryant's career will be coming to an end.