‘My body knows it’s time to say goodbye’: Lakers icon Kobe Bryant to retire at end of season
The 37-year-old won five championship rings and 17 All-Star selections during two decades with the franchise
The 37-year-old Bryant made the announcement in a post on The Players’ Tribune on Sunday. The third-leading scorer in NBA history wrote a poem entitled “Dear Basketball” to announce his decision.
I’m ready to let you go. I want you to know now. So we both can savour every moment we have left together. The good and the bad. We have given each other all that we have
“My heart can take the pounding. My mind can handle the grind. But my body knows it’s time to say goodbye,” Bryant wrote.
“And that’s OK. I’m ready to let you go. I want you to know now. So we both can savour every moment we have left together. The good and the bad. We have given each other all that we have.”
Bryant went straight from high school in suburban Philadelphia to the Lakers in 1996, and he earned five championship rings and 17 All-Star selections during two decades with the franchise - the longest tenure with one team in NBA history. Bryant also won two Olympic gold medals.
But Bryant’s last three seasons have ended early due to injuries, and he played in only 41 games over the previous two years.