Kobe Bryant Announces Retirement From Basketball

Bryant shot just 4-of-20 overall, and although there was some late-game magic, his potential game-tying three-point attempt in the final seconds drew nothing but air.

I’m ready to let you go. “And that’s OK”, writes Bryant, who has spent his entire 20-year career with the Los Angeles Lakers.

Meanwhile, Nets rookie Rondae Hollis-Jefferson – who, like Bryant, grew up near Philadelphia – was emotional to hear about his idol retiring.

“You gave a six-year-old boy his Laker dream”. Of course, Elgin Baylor famously retired nine games into the 1972 season and those Lakers promptly went on an National Basketball Association record 33-game winning streak.

“I’ve known for a while”, Bryant said. “Finally I had to accept the fact that I don’t want to do this anymore and I’m OK with that”. “It takes a weight off my shoulders and everybody else’s”.

Bryant made a 3-pointer that cut the Pacers’ lead to 98-92 with 1:19 left. And be sure to catch him if you can – he’s an all-time great.

Whether you were a Kobe hater or not, you stopped what you were doing to watch him play because he was one of the last figures from the ’90s who still maintained prominence. That has left Bryant inspired to mentor the Lakers’ young players, including D’Angelo Russell, Julius Randle and Jordan Clarkson.

Named Kobe by his parents after they spotted the popular Japanese cut of beef on a restaurant menu shortly before his birth, Bryant is now a five-times National Basketball Association champion having won titles in 2000, 2001, 2002, 2009 and 2010.

The cheapest ticket to Tuesday night’s game in Philadelphia between the Los Angeles Lakers and the 76ers, two teams with no more than three wins between them in 34 tries, tripled to $60 in minutes. He said the finality of the long-expected decision didn’t affect his play.

Leave it to Kobe Bryant to announce his retirement without using the word “retire”.

In need of a center, the Lakers acquired Hibbert during the summer for a low second-round draft pick.

The remaining 66 games of the season are most likely to turn into a farewell tour with Bryant recieving cheers on the road, much like he did in NY and Miami.

Speaking later at a news conference after the Lakers lost to the Indiana Pacers, their 14th defeat in 16 games this season, Bryant admitted that he had been mulling over the decision for a while.

“It’s definitely a sad, sad day but he’s been in the game a long time”. He appeared in 12 playoff games in 2012.