Kobe Bryant to Retire After This Season

One of the greatest, most fascinating careers in NBA history is coming to an end — Kobe Bryant announced Sunday night that this will be his last season.

Bryant, 37, is currently trudging through the worst campaign of his otherwise brilliant 20-year journey through the League and admits that his aching body is telling him that it’s time to call it quits.

Kobe broke the news through a touching poem to the game of basketball.

Per The Players’ Tribune

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.

 

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.