Thursday began for Kobe Bryant with apparent good news — despite missing most of the season recovering from an Achilles injury, he has the No. 2-selling jersey in the NBA .

Top-selling NBA jerseys: 1) LeBron James 2) Kobe Bryant 3) Derrick Rose 4) Kevin Durant 5) Carmelo Anthony — SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) December 19, 2013

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And with Christmas just around the corner, it made sense that the king of Christmas hoops would still be a highly desired gift.

This will be Kobe Bryant's 16th Christmas game (an NBA record). Second is Dolph Schayes, Earl Monroe and Shaq with 13 Christmas games each. — Alex Kennedy (@AlexKennedyNBA) December 19, 2013

Then the basketball world was reminded that no one’s immune from a lump of coal, not even Showtime and Mamba.

Injury Update: Kobe Bryant has a fracture of the lateral tibial plateau in his left knee. He is expected to miss 6 weeks. — Los Angeles Lakers (@Lakers) December 19, 2013

For his part, Kobe vowed to remain undeterred, despite another injury setback.

And some other stars in the league wished him well and lamented the loss for the league.

Not Kobe — Brandon Rush (@BRush_25) December 19, 2013

Kobe can't catch a break. — Mario Chalmers (@mchalmers15) December 19, 2013

And his Lakers teammates also wished him a speedy recovery, but pledged to continue to fight on without their star.

Tough news today about @kobebryant injury. Despite the multiple injuries we have suffered as a team, we will keep fighting. #MambaGetWell — Pau Gasol (@paugasol) December 20, 2013

And there was this, yet another reminder of Kobe’s popularity.

Kobe Bryant will still very likely be voted as a starter for the All-Star game, which is just under eight weeks away. — Mike Trudell (@LakersReporter) December 19, 2013

And a reminder of how human he is.

“@ball709: @KBergCBS Kobe is the kind of guy that just don't go away”. Sorry, but EVERYONE goes away at some point! — Steve Kerr (@SteveKerrTNT) December 19, 2013

But perhaps nowhere will Bryant’s absence be felt more than . . . the NFL? Look how many people from the world of football gave shout-outs to Bryant.

Kobe hurt again?? Hoping for a speedy recovery ! #lakeshow — Jerry Rice (@JerryRice) December 19, 2013

Sorry to hear about @kobebryant's leg fracture. Best wishes for a very quick recovery — Pete Carroll (@PeteCarroll) December 19, 2013