Truthfully, he should have ended it after the 2013-2014 season. But I guess it was hard to turn down $50 million.

At least the Lakers can take solace in the fact that they would have still sucked, even if he retired two years ago and didn't hog up so much salary.

This is an embarrassing season for him. He's literally been the worst starter in the NBA.

Kobe is a very controversial player. I always liked him, and not just because he was a Laker. He worked hard, took the game seriously, and had an incredible drive to win.

I admit he had faults. He was selfish. He was arrogant. He didn't play good team basketball. He drove Shaq away a few years too early. And then there was the rape thing, which may have been an actual rape, may have been a slut trying to cash in on having sex with Kobe, and may have been a little of both. But the "victim" was anything but sympathetic, and there were many legitimate questions surrounding the whole thing.

But for many years, Kobe performed daily miracles on the basketball court. There's no one you would rather have the ball in crunch time in a close game. There's no one who was better at making amazing shots from a distance, falling away at an awkward angle with three guys in his face. As a Lakers fan, there were so many times in the 4th quarter where I would shout at the TV, "Come on, Kobe, that's a terrible shot!", only to watch it swish into the basket.

Kobe also was not a super-hyped prospect, like Lebron James. He went 13th in the 1996 draft. That's right -- 13th. Twelve players went before him that year. The Hornets let him go for middling Vlade Divac after drafting him and hearing that he didn't want to play for them.

Kobe had a lot of natural talent, but his immense success just as much a product of hard work than innate basketball talent. His frustration with Shaq was understandable. Shaq did not work hard at all, and instead relied upon his massive size and strength to do the work for him. Kobe was irritated with this, as he worked his ass off during the offseason to improve.

Kobe is not the oldest player in the NBA. He is only 37. Tim Duncan is older than him, but has not degraded at the same rate. But these are different players. Kobe has had multiple injuries. Kobe is smaller. Kobe has been battered around in the NBA since age 18. His body is broken, even if it's functional enough to play this year.

I was happy to have Kobe on the Lakers for the past 2 decades. I still think he should have foregone the money and retired at a more natural point, sparing himself both the embarrassment and the heartbreak of playing on a horrible team. The Lakers haven't had a ghost of a chance to win the NBA title in the past few years. That died when Dwight Howard left. But it's easy for me to say, as I'm not the one who was offered a $50 million contract.

http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/14...-retire-season