The next few years are going to be brutal for NBA fans across the globe, as multiple all-time greats are set to retire while their careers dwindle down to their last few precious years. Plenty of names highlight this group such as Tim Duncan, Dirk Nowitzki, Dwyane Wade, and Kevin Garnett. However, none bigger than Los Angeles Lakers megastar and Team USA Basketball icon, Kobe Bryant.
Bryant is now 36 years of age, and the wear and tear is really starting to catch up to him as evident with his recent injuries. The past couple years have been filled with rumblings regarding his retirement and when he does decide to hang it up, it’ll be a sad day for basketball fans everywhere. It is unclear when exactly that will be but Bryant himself added some insight to the equation in a recent interview with Yahoo Sports:
Q: Lakers general manager Mitch Kupchak has hinted that next season can be your last. Could it be?
Kobe: “We haven’t set anything in stone and I’ve talked about it before. But could this be the last [season]? Absolutely. It’s tough to decide. It’s really tough to make those types of decisions. Players I have spoken to say, ‘Kobe you will know.’
“I’m making this very simple. Either I like playing the game and going through this process or I don’t. I try to strip it down to the simplest form. Either I like playing some more or I don’t. But I think that decision needs to be made after the season. It’s hard to make a decision like that before the season.”
In the interview, Kobe doesn’t rule out this being his last season in the NBA. He claims that he plans on retiring once the game is no longer enjoyable to him anymore. Bryant is one of the fiercest competitors the game has ever seen, but with the recent disarray the Lakers franchise has been in, it would come as no surprise to see the Black Mamba call it a career sooner rather than later.
