At some point in the next year or so, Kobe Bryant is going to retire from the NBA. We hope he decides to do it sooner than later, but one thing is for sure: It’s coming. Kobe doesn’t have much left in the tank.
When he retires, it sounds like he’s going to be done playing basketball for good, too. Back in 2012, he talked about how he wanted to go overseas and play in Europe once he was done with the NBA. But during a recent chat with ESPN reporter Marc Stein, Kobe revealed that that is no longer in the cards for him. Here’s what Stein reported earlier today:
Kobe Bryant has made it clear he doesn't know for sure yet if this is going to be his final NBA season, even if it sure looked that way on his recent stops in Brooklyn, New York and Dallas, when Bryant seemed to be soaking in every last ounce of the experience in his potential last stop in each of those cities. What does seem clear, though, is that the oft-floated idea of Kobe playing in, say, Italy for a season after leaving the NBA is not in his thinking at the moment. In a brief chat after his recent Dallas visit, Bryant told me that, at this point, he doesn't have plans to play abroad when he finally sheds the purple and gold, be it after this season or beyond.
Kobe could obviously change his mind. But for now, it sounds like he’s going to be 100 percent finished with basketball once his NBA career is over.
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[via ESPN]
