Oh Phil Jackson. Phil, Phil, Phil. You had to go and say this, huh?
Today during the New York Knicks media availability for President Phil Jackson, General Manager Steve Mills and head coach Derek Fisher, it appears that Jackson has opened up a whole new can of worms.
It’s been long speculated what happens to Kobe Bryant after this year. Will he retire? Won’t he retire? It appears that Jackson has an answer that may or may not please Los Angeles Lakers fans.
Following from Chris Herring of the Wall Street Journal.
Phil, on Kobe: "I don't think this is his last year. Might be his last year as a Laker."
— Chris Herring (@HerringWSJ) September 25, 2015
Phil: "I think [Kobe] is going to be better than ppl think." He says he assumes there will offers on the table 4 him to continue his career.
— Chris Herring (@HerringWSJ) September 25, 2015
Well, Allen Iverson didn’t retire as a member of the Philadelphia 76ers, Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen didn’t retire as members of the Chicago Bulls, Karl Malone didn’t retire as a member of the Utah Jazz and Hakeem Olajuwon didn’t retire as a member of the Houston Rockets so I guess it could happen. Should it? Who knows but for what it’s worth, I don’t think Kobe is going anywhere.
At least he’s not going anywhere in the NBA. I Bryant takes pride in retiring as a member of the Los Angeles Lakers. One of those guys who stayed with one team throughout his entire career like John Stockton, Isiah Thomas, Larry Bird or Reggie Miller. If Kobe plays one more year with the Los Angeles Lakers, he will have the record for years played with one team, eclipsing Stockton’s record.
That must mean something to Kobe, it has too. He probably won’t be commanding $25 million for one season but it’s Kobe Bryant. It’s not like he went and played baseball for a year, didn’t have it work out and then come back. He took no breaks. We haven’t seen him in any other uniform besides the occasional soccer jersey.
