Twenty-year NBA veteran Kobe Bryant announced his plans to retire following the 2015-2016 campaign via free-form poem on Derek Jeter's The Players' Tribune.
Unlike former NBA stars such as Yao Ming, Pete Maravich, and Bill Walton, who retired as a result of injuries, Bryant will retire on his own terms. Bryant's emotional, heart-filled open letter to basketball, which is nearly identical to Michael Jordan's retirement announcement, came after the five-time champion realized that his body is aging.
Bryant, 37, will finish his NBA career with the same team that acquired him in the 1996 NBA draft, the Los Angeles Lakers, making him the only player in NBA history to play 20 seasons with one team; John Stockton played 19 seasons with the Utah Jazz.
While NBA fans of today watch Bryant shoot an abysmal 30 percent, averaging a 9.8 efficiency rating, Bryant's great moments may be forgotten. Currently a shell of his former self, do not forget that Bryant once scored 81 points in a game in 2006, second only to Wilt Chamberlain's 100-point game in 1962.
Those 81 points seem minuscule when compared to the near 33,000 Bryant has scored during his 20-season career, making him third on the NBA's all-time scoring list.
The former MVP last won the last of his five titles in 2010 and has not been elite since rupturing his Achilles tendon in 2013, so what should fans expect of Bryant during his farewell tour and the Lakers post-Kobe?
The Los Angeles Lakers have 61 games remaining in the season as of Dec. 7, including a Christmas Day game against the rival Los Angeles Clippers and the season finale against the Utah Jazz.
Bryant played his final game in Atlanta Friday night, scoring 14 points in a tight Lakers loss to the Hawks. "Ko-be" chants filled Phillips Arena as the future hall-of-famer was commemorated with this video shown on the big screen Friday night.
As legends like Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Derek Jeter were honored with gifts during their respective final seasons, Bryant has asked not to receive the same treatment as he visits away arenas for one last time. However, the Philadelphia 76ers honored Bryant, giving a framed high school jersey of Bryant's to him when the Lakers visited Philadelphia days after his announcement.
Once Bryant leaves the game of basketball, the Lakers will retire Bryant's number, but the debate now is whether to retire his No. 8 jersey, which he won three straight titles while wearing or his No. 24 jersey, which he won back-to-back championships wearing.
Before being honored in the rafters, Bryant will fulfill the rest of the 2015-2016. Whether in a comforting Staples Center or in appreciative away arenas whose crowd will chant "M-V-P," Bryant will have excessive and embarrassing shooting performances, leading the Lakers to a laughable record.
Despite historically poor statistics, Bryant may be voted in as a starter for February's All-Star Game, which would be his 18th selection.
By the end of the season, the Lakers are supposed to have a near league-worst record, landing them safely in the draft lottery for a third straight year, which is how future all-stars D'Angelo Russell and Julius Randle ended up in Los Angeles.
With Bryant's $25 million coming off of the books, the Los Angeles Lakers will have a monstrous $63 million to spend on key free agents, putting the 16-time world champions back on the cusp of title contention.
Bryant's exit from basketball will leave a huge void in the NBA, impacting fans and players everywhere, but will you miss him?
