Kobe Bryant, the league’s third best all-time scorer, was asked if he’s going to call it quits next spring following his 20th NBA campaign.
DPA/Los Angeles
Kobe Bryant has never been indecisive when he’s got the basketball in his hands. But the LA Lakers veteran superstar is standing unsure at the crossroads of retirement plans while preparing for another comeback from injury as the NBA season tips off tomorrow. Bryant, the league’s third best all-time scorer, was asked if he’s going to call it quits next spring following his 20th NBA campaign - all with the Lakers - and his one-season, league-high 25 million dollar contract expires.
“I thought about it a little bit in terms of what is the deciding factor, how do players actually know when it’s time to hang it up, really, how do you truly know?” he said at the Lakers Day media earlier this month. “Maybe it is, maybe it isn’t. Hell if I know.”
Bryant has been thrilling Lakers fans with high-scoring games or last second buzzer-beaters for nearly two decades. But the 37-year-old, five-time NBA Champion has been hit by devastating injuries in his battle against Father Time. He suffered a torn Achilles tendon in 2013, a fractured tibial plateau in 2014 and a torn rotator cuff in January, that limited “The Black Mamba” to play in just 35 contests.
“I’m past the recovery stage,” Bryant said after a recent pre-season loss to Utah. “It’s about getting my timing down. I feel like myself.”
This season, Bryant is not expected to carry the heavy scoring load. Instead, he is being asked to provide leadership and facilitator roles to his young teammates, led by Lakers top draft pick D’Angelo Russell, Julius Randle and Jordan Clarkson. “My future is Randle, Russell and Clarkson,” Lakers coach Byron Scott said.
“It doesn’t matter, you’re going to lose athleticism offensively or defensively. But Kobe still sees the game at a different speed, so he is able to be in and get to spots he needs to get to because of the experience and knowledge he has of the game. But I think the biggest thing is he’s teaching these guys, especially our young guys that you have to come up with that mentality every night.”
Bryant appears to be on board with his added responsibilities. “It depends on what identity the team takes on,” he said. “It’s my responsibility to plug in those holes, pick up where we’re lacking.”
But not everyone believes Bryant can successfully make the smooth transition from a high-scoring superstar star to teacher.
“When has he ever embraced anything even close to that over the last 2-3 years?” an NBA scout asked an ESPN reporter. “I don’t think you’re going to be able to change him to be in a role that he’s never been in.”
Bryant said he doesn’t mind that people constantly ask about his retirement plans but doesn’t want any big farewell tour send-offs around the league, should he decide to hang up his popular number 24 purple and gold jersey.
“It can get to be a pain in the ass, but when I sit back and think about it, it’s cool. It means that you’ve had a really good career and people want to know when the time is coming for you to hang ‘em up,” he said. “Like me, don’t like me, you respect the career that I’ve had, and I think that’s a pretty damn cool thing, man.”
New York Knicks President of Basketball Operation Phil Jackson, who coached Bryant and the Lakers to five NBA Championships, said his former star would play on. The ever-clever Jackson told reporters he might be able to persuade Bryant to join him in the Big Apple, to breathe life into his comatose-like club.
When told, Bryant quickly shot down that notion, saying, “I bleed purple and gold.”
But the question remains for how much longer?