[Sports] Kobe Bryant announces he will retire after this season

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Kobe Bryant announces he will retire after this season
from the LA Times

Lakers All-Star guard Kobe Bryant announced that the current NBA season will be the final one of his storied career.

"This season is all I have left to give," writes Bryant on The Players Tribune in a letter he opens directly to the sport itself with the words, "Dear Basketball."

Bryant is in his 20th season, all with the Lakers since a draft-day trade in 1996 that sent Vlade Divac to the Charlotte Hornets in return for a 17-year old kid taken with the 13th overall pick.

Bryant won five NBA titles. He was still playing at an elite level until April 2013 when he tore an Achilles' tendon.  Knee and shoulder injuries have limited Bryant the last two seasons.

"My heart can take the pounding, my mind can handle the grind, but my body knows it's time to say goodbye," writes Bryant.

"I'm ready to let you go," he continues.  "I want you to know now, so we can both savor every moment we have left together.  The good and the bad.  We have given each other all we have."

Bryant, 37, is struggling this season, averaging 15.7 points a game while shooting only 31.5% from the field and 19.5% from three-point range.

The Lakers are currently in last place in the Western Conference with a 2-13 record.

"You gave a six-year-old boy his Laker dream, and I'll always love you for it," writes Bryant.  "But I can't love you obsessively for much longer."

NBA Commissioner Adam Silver issued the following statement regarding Kobe Bryant’s announcement:

“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. 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.”

The Lakers still have 67 games left to play this season, with the regular-season finale on Apr. 13 at Staples Center against the Utah Jazz.

Miami guard Dwyane Wade empathized with Bryant's struggles earlier Sunday.

"It's tough to see one of the absolute greatest competitors go through this,” Wade told the Associated Press before Bryant made his announcement. “You can put a team around a guy to help a guy, especially late in his career.

"They're just not in position right now to do that. He's won five championships, so no one feels bad for him from that standpoint. But from a standpoint of seeing one of this era's greatest players go out in a rebuilding process, it's tough.”