Kobe Bryant announces retirement from basketball at age 37

One of the most talented basketball players of all
time, Kobe Bryant, of the Los Angeles Lakers
announced yesterday Sunday November 29th that
he would retire from professional basketball after
the end of this season, his 20th in the NBA.
He announced his retirement in form of a poem
on The Players' Tribune website, bringing to a
close one of the most decorated careers in the
history of the sport. In the poem titled 'Dear
Basketball' The 37 year old wrote;
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.
In a statement Sunday night, NBA Commissioner
Adam Silver called Bryant “one of the greatest
players in the history of our game.”
“I join Kobe’s millions of fans around the
world in congratulating him on an
outstanding NBA career and thank him for
so many thrilling memories.”

Bryant was 17 years old when he was picked
13th overall in the 1996 draft by the Charlotte
Hornets, who promptly traded him to the Lakers,
the only organization for which he has played in
his professional career. He has won five N.B.A.
titles and two Olympic gold medals, has been
named to 17 All-Star teams and was voted the
league’s most valuable player in 2008. He ranks
third on the NBA’s career scoring list, behind only
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Karl Malone.