Kobe Bryant heads overseas to have medical procedure unrelated to torn Achilles tendon

Los Angeles Lakers guard Kobe Bryant, center, talks to reporters during the NBA basketball team's media day Saturday, Sept. 28, 2013, in El Segundo, Calif. (AP Photo/Alex Gallardo) (The Associated Press)

Los Angeles Lakers guard Kobe Bryant stands in a photo booth during the NBA basketball team's media day Saturday, Sept. 28, 2013, in El Segundo, Calif. (AP Photo/Alex Gallardo) (The Associated Press)

LOS ANGELES – Kobe Bryant is heading overseas to have a medical procedure unrelated to the torn Achilles tendon he sustained in April.

The Los Angeles Lakers said Thursday that Bryant is expected to return early next week.

He went to Germany twice in 2011 for a procedure on his sore right knee and a sore left ankle that bothered him at the time.

The Los Angeles Times on Thursday cited people with knowledge of the situation as saying that Bryant was going to Germany this time. He was having a knee procedure that involves removing blood from the affected area and spinning it in a centrifuge. Molecules that cause inflammatory responses are then removed to create a serum that is injected back into the affected area.