It’s clear that Kobe Bryant is in the latter end of his career. With his body failing him it’s just a matter of time till he has to hang his jersey up. The only question is when? The controversial two-year contract extension he signed with the Los Angeles Lakers is up after next season and many people think that is when he’ll retire. Even Kobe himself hinted that that would be it for him but now after sitting out much of this season with a torn rotator cuff, he says he can envision himself playing longer than that.
Kobe ever consider retiring? “Yeah, as soon as the doctor told me, I was like, Jesus Christ, man, I don’t know if I can do another nine months.”
Bryant will be 37 this summer and has been sidelined by Achilles and knee injuries prior to this season. If he finishes out next season, could he play beyond that?
“Yeah, I could,” he said. “As I sit here right now, do I want to play after next year? No. That could change.”
As far as the variables that factor into his decision of playing beyond next season, Bryant said, “It’s if I feel like playing, if I feel like doing the process again, if I feel like I’m enjoying getting up and training every single day and that sort of thing. After three years of dealing with this crap, I kind of understand why I don’t want to deal with that anymore.”
When asked what he would need to do to stay upright next season, Bryant didn’t mention the possibility of limiting his minutes or sitting out certain games, such as the front or back end of back-to-back sets.
“Honestly, I don’t know,” he said. He added, “After playing so many years, I could play 10 minutes and hurt some other s–t. At this stage, all I can do is do whatever I can to be as healthy as possible and then if something is going to go, it goes. Then it’s just, ‘Father Time got me’ and there’s nothing else I can do about it.”
How confident is Kobe that LAL builds contender while he remains with them? “As confident as they are in me that I’ll be healthy next year.”
