Kobe Bryant gives up on final Olympic dream before retirement

“I’ll watch from afar and show support from afar”, Bryant said. Hold on one second.’ You know what I mean?

Rudy Gobert had his best game since returning from injury, scoring 18 points, getting 18 rebounds, and blocking the Lakers five times in just 30 minutes of play.

Bryant hadn’t dismissed the possibility of playing for Team USA in the summer after retiring from the National Basketball Association until now.

With this announcement, Kobe has now ruled out playing overseas as well as in the Olympics, so there is no doubt that when Kobe hangs it up for the Lakers, he truly is done playing basketball for good.

While fans would have loved to see Bryant compete for something important one last time following a disappointing final stretch in his career, the decision seems to be wise.

Dec 28, 2015; Charlotte, NC, USA; Los Angeles Lakers forward Kobe Bryant (24) waves to the fans after leaving the game late in the fourth quarter against the Charlotte Hornets at Time Warner Cable Arena. However, he hadn’t seen action against Utah since January 15, 2013.

“Lack of energy, still turning the ball over, we’ve got to take care of the ball better, they played desperate, and we played like we’ve been on a winning streak”, said D’Angelo Russell when asked what Scott told the team their issues were during halftime, so at least his message was consistent. This game I tried to be more aggressive, especially on defensive rebounds.

After the game, Bryant stuck by his comment. Larry Nance, Jr. left in the first quarter with a sore right knee…. “We talked about Gordon stepping up his game”.

The Jazz were again without three key players due to injury as Derrick Favors (back), Trevor Booker (concussion) and Alec Burks (leg) were all out. Trey Burke is dishing 2.6 assists and Jeff Withey is grabbing 4.4 rebounds. “More so than the other crowds”. “It’s fine memories – truly”. The Jazz signed forward JJ O’Brien of the Idaho Stampede to a 10-day contract…. But will Bryant receive any warm sentiments then? I could run at a high speed and play hard for the entire game.