Is it just me. Or has Kobe Bryant significantly relaxed since passing Michael Jordan on the All-Time scorers list?
He’s missing games, he’s dishing out the ball. He’s even accepting a possible shut down. That’s not Kobe.
And according to Bill Plaschke of the LA Times, Kobe Bryant has actually been mulling over retirement.
When asked whether he has considered retiring at the end of this season, one year before the end of his Lakers contract, he nods his head in agreement.
“I’d be lying if I said that it hasn’t crossed my mind,” he tells The Times. “Right now I doubt it … but anything’s possible.”
“My body is hurting like crazy, around the clock, and if I don’t want to do this anymore, I won’t do it,” he says.
“It’s important for free agents to see how I can adjust my game, because that’s always the question mark, right?” says Bryant. “Are they going to get the old grumpy guy who is going to want to shoot the ball all the time? No, they’re not. It’s important for free agents to see that my determination comes from self-assessing, from saying, ‘OK, I’ll do this.‘”
That. Is highly suggestive. When Kobe signed the two-year extension I thought after the two years are up. He’d hang up his kicks. But with that set of quotes alone. Who’s to say that he’ll even make it to the second year?
I don’t want to say anything definitive but man the clock is definitely ticking.
