Sport
NBA Super Star Kobe Bryant announces his retirement
Bryant then missed his first 6 shots, including three 3-pointers, before making a layup late in the first quarter. He finished the first half with six points on 2-for-15 shooting.
Even during his late-career struggles with the foundering Lakers, Bryant’s fans have remained devoted to the 6-foot-6 star who won titles alongside Shaquille O’Neal in 2000, 2001 and 2002 before teaming with Pau Gasol for two more in 2009 and 2010. Only 13 players in league history played on more championship teams than Bryant.
And even with the Lakers already likely to miss the playoffs for the third straight season – a first in franchise history – Bryant intends to keep going. He decided to suit up against the Pacers on Sunday even after playing 34 minutes at Portland on Saturday night.
“He kind of shocked me when he told me,” said Lakers coach Byron Scott, Bryant’s teammate during the 1996-97 season. “I am just sad, more than anything. It is always hard when greatness like Kobe decides to hang it up. I thought he probably had at least another year, but this year isn’t over.”
Bryant is the NBA’s highest-paid player this season with a US$25 million salary bestowed on him by grateful Lakers owner Jim Buss despite his recent injury problems. Bryant’s presence guarantees wild crowds wherever the Lakers play. He has been tirelessly devoted to the franchise, repeatedly declaring he would never play for another NBA team in his final seasons despite the Lakers’ wholesale rebuilding process following the disastrous 2012-13 season with Dwight Howard and Steve Nash.
But Bryant’s departure will allow the Lakers to split between the past and the future, with young prospects Julius Randle, D’Angelo Russell and Jordan Clarkson taking on leading roles rather than deferring to their superstar teammate.
General manager Mitch Kupchak has spent his entire career building rosters around Bryant, but the executive acknowledged frustration with the Lakers’ incredible struggles in Bryant’s final 2 seasons.
“Clearly we’re not playing at the kind of level that a player of Kobe’s age and experience finds challenging, kind of like there’s no light at the end of the tunnel,” said Kupchak, who did not learn of Bryant’s decision until Sunday afternoon. “So I am not surprised that he would make the announcement now. I think the game will be easier for him now. I think he will be able to enjoy the rest of the season.”
Bryant repeatedly declared that he did not want a farewell tour in the style of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar or Derek Jeter, his friend and The Players’ Tribune founder. Yet the Lakers’ 8-game road trip beginning next week is almost certain to begin a prolonged goodbye to Bryant, one of the NBA’s most popular and most divisive players.
Bryant already has received long ovations on road trips this season, particularly in places like New York and Miami where crowds sensed that they might be seeing him as an opponent for the final time.
