Kobe Bryant to retire

[Dan Druff]

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

[Dan Druff]

Supposedly he decided to announce this because he will be playing his final game in Philadelphia on Tuesday -- and that's where he grew up.

[Krypt]

An absolute legend. Lets just leave it at that.

[limitles]

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

Not a lot of controversy IMO. If he couldn't throw a ball through a hoop he'd probably be in the klink.

Fans and those who make money off of his talent happily look the other way well past due date.

[sonatine]

I bet thesparten has an opinion.

 

What with them both being rapists.

[Sloppy Joe]

I've never liked him as a player but always respected his ability to straight up win games when hot in a fourth quarter.

Like A-Rod, he's just always been weird/aloof. Gave himself a nickname. Tried to act like Jordan but could never fully embrace it. Raped a white girl.

Has come off as more 'serious/competitive' in interviews the past couple of years. We get it.

Ultimately set back the Lakers 5 years with current contract demands that they stupidly fulfilled.

Now gets the obnoxious year-long retirement tour thing. Later fag

[Krypt]

you fucking geeks really need to show some respect to an all time great. Lol @ the "rape", what an absolute farce. This nigga has been ballin for years and the Lakers should be sucking his cock for all the great moments he gave them.

[simpdog]

He is one of the goats. But needs to dial it back and become a distributor. 2/15 right now tonight.

[Corrigan]

you fucking geeks really need to show some respect to an all time great. Lol @ the "rape", what an absolute farce. This nigga has been ballin for years and the Lakers should be sucking his cock for all the great moments he gave them.

Letting him shoot more than 10 shots per game right now is basically the Lakers sucking his cock

[gut]

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

Eh, he was superhyped, but that was an outstanding draft (one of the GOAT) and teams were still hesitant to trust a high pick on a high-schooler. Garnett went #5 the year before and had a rocky, up-n-down rookie year. With so many sure thing guys coming out of college, Kobe went around where he should have. Kobe himself took a couple years to find his groove. Of course by around 1999, the successes of Garnett and Kobe took away the stigma of drafting the HS kid too high.

http://www.basketball-reference.com/draft/NBA_1996.html

Looking back, and judging by what people were thinking in that year, you could argue he could have went 7th at the highest. Those top 6 were considered sure things, and they basically were right away. Obviously now we know Kobe is better than (for example) Antoine Walker, but not then....and probably not even until maybe 2000 or so.

LOL @ GSW and CLE there at 11 and 12 taking size over the promise of Kobe. Don't forget Nash went 15th also!

[Pooh]

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

Eh, he was superhyped, but that was an outstanding draft (one of the GOAT) and teams were still hesitant to trust a high pick on a high-schooler. Garnett went #5 the year before and had a rocky, up-n-down rookie year. With so many sure thing guys coming out of college, Kobe went around where he should have. Kobe himself took a couple years to find his groove. Of course by around 1999, the successes of Garnett and Kobe took away the stigma of drafting the HS kid too high.

http://www.basketball-reference.com/draft/NBA_1996.html

Looking back, and judging by what people were thinking in that year, you could argue he could have went 7th at the highest. LOL @ GSW and CLE there at 11 and 12 taking size over the promise of Kobe. Don't forget Nash went 15th also!

That was a sick draft. LOL at 13-15 picks.

[Krypt]

jesus christ how sick was AI

[jacosta24]

Lebron who?

[gut]

jesus christ how sick was AI

Yup.

I got a little ticked off last year when people were talking about how great LeBron was with that battered CLE team. AI making that finals still takes the cake IMO as best "1 man team ever". That team was complete dogshit.

[Krypt]

I'll take AI in his prime over Lebron in his prime, all day.

[jacosta24]

jesus christ how sick was AI

Yup.

I got a little ticked off last year when people were talking about how great LeBron was with that battered CLE team. AI making that finals still takes the cake IMO as best "1 man team ever". That team was complete dogshit.

obv forgot about Toni Kukoc

[Pooh]

I'll take AI in his prime over Lebron in his prime, all day.

lol no. and i love AI. dislike lebron. but lol no.

[gut]

also topical:

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[Dan Druff]

Funny enough, the Lakers did cover yesterday (after being left for dead, more than 20 behind), though no thanks to Kobe.

[BCR]

A lot of the reason Kobe is so disliked is because Lakers fans are so insufferable. Every fanbase has insufferable fans, there are just so many Laker fans that it's amplified. Every Lakers mouthbreather through the years claiming Kobe as better than jordan or whatever nonsense just added to the rape and shaq stuff and made a large portion of NBA fans cheer against him just to shut Lakers fans up.

He was a fantastic player, probably top 15 of all time, but the love affair from LA fans was always over the top. He was never even the best Laker of all time. You always knew it would end like this. He wasnt going to go out gracefully. I respected his work ethic, but also am enjoying watching him put up the worst season in the history of the league for a guy with high usage. Such a strange situation with a coach and ownership unable to reign in a player that is just destroying their young players from developing by chucking 20 shots a night.

He had a great run. I actually think he could be really good in the studio should be ever choose to go that route. He's so wealthy I'm not sure he will, but he's an intelligent guy, very intelligent in that shallow pool of ex- players when he's not being a dick.

I would bet the season after next that the Lakers hit a homerun. There's a financial incentive for the stars to sign 1 year deals for one more year after this season because of the salary cap situation. Next year you let the fans forget about Kobe, and the following year the Lakers likely get two max all stars if they are smart and don't throw money at marginal stars next offseason.