As I'm sure you know by now, Kobe Bryant's announcement on retirement went viral on November 29th; a date that will go down forever in NBA history. Bryant not only helped lead the Lakers to five championship titles, he's also a 17-time All-star (which is the 2nd most in NBA history, behind Kareem Abdul Jabbar), and the only player in the NBA to play 20 years on the same team.
Athletes such as Kevin Durant, LeBron James, Allen Iverson, Magic Johnson, David Beckham, and Leo Messi have commented on Bryant's retirement announcement.
The 37-year-old wrote a first-person story in style of a poem, titled, "Dear Basketball." In it he expressed his love for the sport as he wrote how basketball, "gave a six-year-old boy his Laker dream/And I'll always love you for it." After his announcement, Bryant revealed that he's known about his retirement for a while now and the moment of the decision came during meditation.
Image courtesy of: Google
OKC Thunder's Kevin Durant commented on the harsh criticism Bryant has been receiving for the past year. During an interview Durant said, "He's a legend and all I hear is about how bad he's playing, how bad he's shooting, time for him to hang it up. You guys (media) treated one of our legends like sh** and I didn't really like it." Durant goes on to saying hopefully Kobe will be treated with respect after his retirement announcement.
Kobe's long-time opponent Lebron James responded to Durant's comments and utterly disagreed with him on the media's harsh treatment on Bryant. James was asked for his intake on Durant's comments and said, "I think the media has done a great job of building Kobe as who he is today," he said. "There's no reason for me to say that the media has made him (Kobe) look a certain way throughout his career."
What might have come to a surprise to some NBA fans, as a response to Bryant's retirement, James stated, "I wanted to be just like him, man... Kobe was someone that I just always kind of wanted to be like and play like."
Allen Iverson gave tribute to Bryant as he expressed his feelings by saying, "To the Mamba... You brought so much out of me like no other player ever has... There will never, ever be another Kobe Bryant. I love you bro and good luck to you."
Former NBA player Magic Johnson weighed in the commentary and said, "After Michael Jordan, we didn't know who was going to take the torch and run with it. Well, Kobe did... There will never another Kobe Bryant."
David Beckham went to Instagram and posted a picture of the Black Mamba captioned, "...He has played the game with passion shown young kids the drive you need to become the best and given basketball fans mostly LAKERS fans the chance to watch a true winner ... Sad to see Kobe retiring at the end of the season but unfortunately all great things must come to an end... Enjoy man."
FC Barcelona's Lionel Messi also went to Instagram to share his feelings and along with a photo of Bryant posted, "Kobe Bryant will always be in the history books as one of the greatest. It was he who helped me become interested in basketball. All of the best in the next stage of your life, Kobe."
In his farewell letter to basketball Bryant also wrote, "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."
Who will be the next player to take the torch and run with it as Johnson says? My money is on Golden State Warriors Stephen Curry, what about yours?
