Kobe Bryant Plans to Retire in a Laker Uniform

Don’t get your hopes up, Phil.

Kobe Bryant still won’t confirm if this will be his final season in the NBA, but one thing remains certain for The Black Mamba: he won’t play for any team other than the Los Angeles Lakers.

The retirement issue won’t go away, obviously, which Bryant is surely thrilled about.

The 37-year-old legend says he can’t imagine hooping for a different organization than the one he has starred for over the last two decades.

Per Yahoo! Sports:

“A lot of players want to go to different teams or contend to win championships,” Bryant said at the conclusion of the Lakers’ media day on Monday. “I’m a Laker, man. I’m a Laker for better or worse.”

 

Bryant, 37, is entering his 20th season with the Lakers. He’s making ($25 million) in the final year of his contract, and if he does continue to play, he expects he’ll do so in a Lakers uniform. […] “I’m a Laker, man. How many times do I have to say that?” Bryant said “Dude, I bleed purple and gold.”

 

“I don’t have any expectations yet because we have a new group and a lot of young guys,” Bryant said. “Julius (Randle), this is really his rookie year. (Jordan) Clarkson gained valuable experience at the end of last year. You got D’Angelo (Russell) coming. You got a lot of players that have a lot of figuring out to do of the pro game still. […] So we’re not sure how that is going to mix. We don’t even know how our starting five is going to look like. We got to figure that stuff out first.”

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