Kobe Says Aurevoir To The NBA in 2013-14

Let the retirement tour begin! Apparently, 2013-2014 will be Kobe Bean Bryant's last in the NBA. Since being drafted in 1996 by the Charlotte Hornets (yes, it is true, he wasn't always a Laker), Kobe has achieved greatness and no matter how much you hate the purple and gold and all their championships, you can't deny that.

His career will be defined by multiple things; his competitive nature, his 5 championships, being a ball hog, scoring 81 points in a game against the Raptors and desire to be better than Michael Jordan. All of these traits have made Kobe into the great player we still see on the court.

Why retire now though? The Lakers have just made two of the biggest off-season acquisitions in Dwight Howard and Steve Nash and he is playing with 2 other all-stars in Pau Gasol and Metta World Peace.This hardly seems like the time you would decide to hang 'em up. Kobe is only 34 years old, but has been playing in the NBA since he was 18. There are definitely a lot of miles on his legs, especially considering the Lakers have often gone deep into the playoffs and he has also played internationally. Recently signed teammate Steve Nash is 38 and signed a 3 years deal, why not stick around and play out the string with him, try and pick up an extra title or two. Kobe is apparently in a place where he feels good about leaving the Lakers. They will be in good hands with Howard and Gasol moving forward to keep the winning tradition alive, or so he hopes. Why not wait until he is sure Howard can produce at the championship level that Lakers fans demand?

The other big bullseye for Kobe, other than tying Jordan with 6 titles, is the all-time scoring record. He is currently about 9000 points behind Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, or about 5 decent seasons. This doesn't seem out of reach for such a competitive athlete, especially if those knee treatments continue in Germany each off-season.

Kobe will be missed once he retires, probably not by fans in places like New York, Denver, Utah or Toronto, teams he consistently torched, but you probably do have to honor him when he comes to town one last time. If the Raptors are planning on doing so, I hope they decide to do it with a Raptors jersey with 81 on the back and Bryant as the nameplate.