Kobe Bryant is retiring after this season.

[Jodell88]

Kobe Bryant announced Sunday on the Players' Tribune website that he will retire after this season, saying "this season is all I have left to give."

In a piece entitled "Dear Basketball," the 37-year-old Bryant wrote that the sport of basketball "gave a six-year-old boy his Laker dream and I'll always love you for it."

"But I can't love you obsessively for much longer," Bryant wrote. "This season is all I have left to give. My heart can take the pounding. My mind can handle the grind but my body knows it's time to say goodbye.

"And that's OK. I'm ready to let you go."

http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/14254236/kobe-bryant-los-angeles-lakers-announces-retire-season

 

[Ns1]

what a legacy, but it's about time.

ggpo Kobe.

 

[tynopik]

CP ‏@CP1708 51m51 minutes ago
@rodger_sherman @P_MATIC But he doesn't usually hit the cold, hard rim anymore..... Lol

 

[Mai72]

It's time. Kobe is pretty beat up and I don't see him getting back into prime form. Time to give up playing basketball and maybe get into broadcasting.

 

[MongGrel]

Michael Jordan "leaps" to mind, but I can not say anything bad about Kobe, even if I do not really follow basketball much these days.

Kobe is one of the best ones that has been around a long time.

 

[Vaux]

Basketball sucks.

 

[jman19]

Good call by Kobe. He's had a great career but he is absolutely awful right now.

 

[SP33Demon]

Who?

 

[lupi]

Love watching clips of his game performances now, so terrible it's hilarious.

 

[yinan]

Does this mean he can now get back to raping women?

 

[digiram]

Dude was super clutch in those early championship runs. Fun to watch and mad competitive. He's just not the same at all right now. Can't hit an open mid-range to save his life.

 

[vi edit]

3 years too late...but I digress...one of the most competitive and dominating guys to ever play the game. Hope he gets a chance to heal up and have a functional rest of his life. That body has some serious miles on it.

 

[Drako]

3 years too late...

Yep, but that $25 mil per year...

 

[core2slow]

he's rage quitting.

This is not a guy who plays selflessly for the betterment of the team (at least the past 3yrs). I bet if he takes a rookie minimum and offer his 25mil/yr to the team, he could've played another 5yrs just being a facilitator. But Kobe being Kobe always want things to go his way so i'm glad he's calling it quits but not for the reasons he listed.

 

[vi edit]

he's rage quitting.

This is not a guy who plays selflessly for the betterment of the team (at least the past 3yrs). I bet if he takes a rookie minimum and offer his 25mil/yr to the team, he could've played another 5yrs just being a facilitator. But Kobe being Kobe always want things to go his way so i'm glad he's calling it quits but not for the reasons he listed.

Eh, Tom Brady made a comment at the start of this season that "When I suck, I'll retire". And this year he's putting on one of the best of his career. I think Kobe is much the same. They are both ruthless competitors and when they can't play at a caliber they feel they should be at, then it's no longer worth it to them.

Kobe is 9th all time for minutes played in the NBA and that's with having only 60 games played over the last three seasons. His body is done. He can't compete. It's just not fun any more. It's a lot of work to go through that much rehab, travel, practice, and punishment and suck at playing when you used to be one of the best. His body is done, and he finally conceded it. It's not rage quitting in my eyes.

 

[core2slow]

Eh, Tom Brady made a comment at the start of this season that "When I suck, I'll retire". And this year he's putting on one of the best of his career. I think Kobe is much the same. They are both ruthless competitors and when they can't play at a caliber they feel they should be at, then it's no longer worth it to them.

Kobe is 9th all time for minutes played in the NBA and that's with having only 60 games played over the last three seasons. His body is done. He can't compete. It's just not fun any more. It's a lot of work to go through that much rehab, travel, practice, and punishment and suck at playing when you used to be one of the best. His body is done, and he finally conceded it. It's not rage quitting in my eyes.

He's done because he was ball hogging the last 3yrs playing 1-on-5 and incur a bunch of injuries. It's the self-inflicted injuries that's sidelining him. Jordan wasn't like that when he left the bulls for the Wizards.

 

[11thHour]

The irony is that he's very athletic and quick, more than jordan was at this age, but his shots require so much lift that he no longer has. He's apparently not able to adjust his game to a less athletic and more flatfooted approach like Jordan did. He's also not able to adjust his 'the next shot is always going in' mentality after a miss, and he shoots the lakers out of the game. I think he will still have some great games, but he's got to quit jacking so many 3's, which magnifies his shortcomings (weak legs.) A little pace and self restraint would go a long ways at this point.