Kobe Bryant is out six to nine months with a torn left Achilles tendon.

The news has spread around the basketball world like wildfire, and it motivated Carmelo Anthony to offer some encouraging words for Bryant, who had been doing everything he could to help the Lakers lock up the eighth seed in the Western Conference, via Twitter.

Anthony said, "Wishing my brotha Kobe a fast and healthy recovery!!!! Come back stronger. Peace God."

Late Saturday night following the Jordan Brand Classic at Barclays Center, Anthony expanded, saying, "That was tough [seeing] him to go down like that. As a friend, as a brother I never want to see him go down like that."

Does Melo expect Bryant to come back?

"I think so. That’s Kobe. Of course," he replied.

Melo and Bryant teamed up in the West for four All-Star Games and also the 2008 and 2012 Olympics, bringing a gold medal home each time.

Reflecting on their time together in Beijing, Melo had this to say last year about one of the game's best players:

"How he was able to just, not so much fit in, but bring all of us together. I mean, everybody had doubts about how that team was going to come together, how everybody was going to react to one another. Nobody had any problems, nobody from day one. Everybody clicked, everybody talked, everybody hung out. I was one of the guys that people were skeptical about playing with Kobe. But we helped bring everybody together and just made everybody have a good time."

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