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“This season is all I have left to give,” Bryant wrote in a You do not have permission to view the full content of this post. Log in or register now. Sunday.
“My heart can take the pounding,” Bryant writes in the letter, entitled Dear Basketball. “My mind can handle the grind. But my body knows it’s time to say goodbye. And that’s OK. I’m ready to let you go.”
Bryant had hinted on a number of occasions that this was looking like his final season, but he had yet to formally announce the decision, and had previously said that he didn’t want his 20th campaign becoming something of a farewell tour.
Injuries, age, and the 55,000-plus NBA minutes he’s logged over the course of his career have taken their toll on the 37-year-old, as Bryant has played just 53 games over the last three seasons while battling a variety of Achilles, knee, and shoulder injuries.
Bryant’s shooting, especially, has further plummeted this season, with the 17-time All-Star averaging 15.7 points on 31.5 percent shooting from the field and 19.5 percent shooting from 3-point range.
Bryant, who on opening night became the first player to You do not have permission to view the full content of this post. Log in or register now., has 15 All-NBA selections, five championships, two Finals MVP awards, and one league MVP award to his name.
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.
A love so deep I gave you my all —
From my mind & body
To my spirit & soul.
As a six-year-old boy
Deeply in love with you
I never saw the end of the tunnel.
I only saw myself
Running out of one.
And so I ran.
I ran up and down every court
After every loose ball for you.
You asked for my hustle
I gave you my heart
Because it came with so much more.
I played through the sweat and hurt
Not because challenge called me
But because YOU called me.
I did everything for YOU
Because that’s what you do
When someone makes you feel as
Alive as you’ve made me feel.
You gave a six-year-old boy his Laker dream
And I’ll always love you for it.
But I can’t love you obsessively for much longer.
This season is all I have left to give.
My heart can take the pounding
My mind can handle the grind
But my body knows it’s time to say goodbye.
And that’s OK.
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.
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 hands.
5 … 4 … 3 … 2 … 1
Love you always,
Kobe
