By Anthony Caruso III | Publisher
The Los Angeles Lakers star Kobe Bryant has announced that he’s stepping away from the game at the end of this season. He made the announcement this evening on Derek Jeter’s site The Players’ Tribune.
Bryant has flip-flopped on his decision several times. At the end of last season, he announced that this season would be his last.
However, as they were preparing for his season, he told ESPN’s Shelley Smith, that he may play several more years. Now that will not happen.
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“My body knows it’s time to say goodbye,” he said in the post called ‘Dear Basketball.’ The poem was also a love letter to the game that’s been so good to him.
During his 20-year career, all with the Lakers, he was a five-time NBA Champion. He has a career average of 25.3 points, 5.3 rebounds, and 4.8 rebounds per game.
However, this is one of the worst seasons in his career. He’s averaging 15.7 points per game on 31.5 percent shooting from the field, which is the worst of his career.
He had a career-high 35.3 points per game during the 2005-06 season. The 37-year-old is in the final year of a two-year contract.
Three of his NBA Championships games were with his rival teammate Shaquille O’Neal. They won three straight championships to begin the 2000’s.
They defeated the Indiana Pacers, Philadelphia 76ers, and the New Jersey Nets, who are now the Brooklyn Nets, in those Finals. Shaq won the NBA Finals MVP’s each year.
Then, with Phil Jackson and Pau Gasol, the Lakers won back-to-back Finals. Bryant was the NBA Finals MVP for those two years.
He’s a 17-time All-Star and a 15-time All-NBA member. He was a 12-time All-Defensive team member.
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He writes that he hopes that he could savor these memories as the end is just months away. Barring a miracle, the Lakers are going to miss the playoffs again.
He goes on to end the poem by saying:
And we both know, no matter what I do next I’ll always be that kid With the rolled-up socks Garbage can in the corner :05 seconds on the clock Ball in my hands. 5 … 4 … 3 … 2 … 1.
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