Lakers’ Kobe Bryant Announces his Retirement

By Francisco Romero

The two-time NBA Finals MVP, Kobe Bryant announced today he will be retiring from playing professional basketball.

“I’m ready to let you go,” said Bryant through a poem he wrote on theplayerstribune.com.

This season is the 20^th for Bryant in a Lakers uniform.   The 17-time NBA All-Star was drafted by the Charlotte Hornets in1996 draft and traded to the Lakers where he has remained throughout his career.

The poem that Bryant posted on the website is titled “Dear Basketball.”

“From the moment 
I started rolling my dad’s tube socks
 and shooting imaginary 
Game-winning shots 
in the Great Western Forum
, I knew one thing was real: 
I fell in love with you,” reads the beginning of the poem.

Bryant’s dad Joe Bryant played in the NBA.

The poem goes on saying, “I’m ready to let you go. 
I want you to know now 
So we both can savor every moment we have left together. 
The good and the bad. 
We have given each other 
All that we have.”

Lakers’ head coach Byron Scott is saddened by the announcement, “We talked about it last night. I told him he kind of shocked me when he told me. It’s more sad than anything. Somebody who I truly care about, have a lot of respect for. I think it’s always hard when greatness like Kobe decides to hang it up.”

Scott added that he has a lot of respect for the future hall of famer, “Great memories of spending a lot of time with him as a rookie and then getting the chance to spend his last year as a basketball player,” said Scott.

Amongst the many accomplishment that Kobe has achieved in his 20-year career with the Lakers are the following:

• 5-time NBA Champion
• 2-times NBA Finals MVP
• NBA Most Valuable Player – 2008
• 17-time NBA All-Star
• 4-time NBA All-Star MVP

This is how the future Basketball Hall of Famer ended his poem, announcing his retirement, “And we both know, no matter what I do next, I’ll always be that kid
 with the rolled up socks, 
garbage can in the corner
: 05 seconds on the clock
, ball in my hand.”

“
5 … 4 … 3 … 2 … 1. Love you always, Kobe”