Kobe Bryant will have shoulder surgery today in New York, a decision made after consultations with four doctors and arrived at less than a week after he was diagnosed with a torn labrum.

Dr. Louis Bigliani, a shoulder specialist at New York Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center, will perform the surgery. Bryant is expected to be released today and spend another day or two in New York before returning to Los Angeles.

After examining Bryant's shoulder and the MRI exam last week in New York, Bigliani is not sure Bryant has a torn labrum, and therefore could not estimate durations of surgery or recovery for Bryant.

After team physician Steve Lombardo's conclusion that he had a tear in his labrum ? a ring of soft tissue in the shoulder socket ? Bryant received three more opinions, each slightly different from the previous. Dr. James Andrews, a noted shoulder specialist in Birmingham, Ala., was among those consulted. The difference of interpretation, according to a team official, was due to the inherent vagaries of reading MRI exams.

If Bigliani, professor and chairman of the Department of Orthopedic Surgery at Columbia Presbyterian, does indeed find a torn labrum, the consensus opinion is that Bryant will recover from surgery in time for training camp, which opens around Oct. 1.