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The career of one of the greatest basketball players of all time is coming to an end. Kobe Bryant, 3rd all-time NBA leading scorer, 17-time All-Star, 5-time NBA Champion, 2-time NBA Finals MVP, 2-time NBA Scoring champion and MVP of the 2007-2008 season announced that this season will be his last.
A short poem
Kobe made his announcement on the Players’ Tribune, which is a website that publishes first-person stories from athletes. In his short poem entitled “Dear Basketball”, the 37-year-old basketball player remembers falling in love with basketball and growing up as a Los Angeles Lakers Fan. The note says:
“Dear Basketball, […]
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.”
{adinserter CNP5}
The end of an era
Bryant, who started receiving large ovations prior to his announcement, said that he didn’t want this season to become a prolonged farewell tour. You know how much he loves to compete. David Silver, the NBA’s commissioner said in a statement:
“With 17 NBA All-Star selections, an NBA MVP, five NBA championships with the Lakers, two Olympic gold medals and a relentless work ethic, Kobe Bryant is one of the greatest players in the history of our game,” Silver said. “Whether competing in the finals or hoisting jump shots after midnight in an empty gym, Kobe has an unconditional love for the 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.”
This is definitely the end of an era in the history of basketball.
