That highlight tape is better than I expected. How well Kobe is moving I mean. He looked like had a lack of elevation on a few plays but seemed to be moving fairly well outside of that. It is sharp turns and change of direction plays that will be most difficult for him coming off that achilles injury as well as jumping off of that injured foot. It's hard to read too much from highlight tape but it was more promising than I expected.
I didn't watch the highlight tape, just watched a bit of his first game and that was my impression as well. He's effective, lacks some of his jumping ability, but his work on establishing the dream shake for a fadeaway shot looks like it'll be a huge weapon for him.
In all, I certainly won't be discounting the Lakers out or Kobe's ability to elevate that team into a playoff contender, question will be if his body will hold up and how he'll perform defensively.
But I only watched a quarter or two, so who knows...
Edit: Also, that wasn't the first game back. This was his second. First game was against the Nuggets on Monday, that's what I watched.