Kobe Bryant Reconnects with High School Point Guard in Philadelphia

Kobe Bryant got a warm welcome when the Los Angeles Lakers traveled east to take on his hometown team, the Philadelphia 76ers, on Tuesday night.

The homecoming, following the recent announcement of his upcoming retirement, was even sweeter with a special reunion with his high school point guard, CSNPhilly.com’s Evan Monsky.

The star’s former Lower Merion High School teammate sat down with various Los Angeles players before finally tracking Bryant down, asking him an imperative question during a press conference: Who held the title for best point guard he had played with.

[The 700 Level, h/t All Ball]

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Kobe Bryant Requests Not to Have Gift, Retirement Ceremonies from NBA Teams

Los Angeles Lakers legend Kobe Bryant requested that opposing teams don’t plan ceremonies or gift presentations during the remaining road games of his career.

Bleacher Report’s Kevin Ding reported Bryant made the decision because he doesn’t want to “detract from [games].” Ding added the five-time NBA champion wants it to feel like “business as usual,” with either private moments or video tributes while on the road.

It’s become common for high-profile athletes who are retiring to go through a farewell tour. Each opponent tends to honor the player with a chance to get appreciated by the crowd and then hands over a gift, typically a regional novelty. New York Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter is a recent example.

Clearly Bryant isn’t interested in following a similar path.

Mark Medina of the Los Angeles Daily News noted the Washington Wizards honored Bryant briefly during a first-quarter timeout Wednesday:

Ultimately, for somebody who showcased such an extreme competitive nature throughout his career, openly accepting gifts from opponents before a game just doesn’t fit the mold. So it’s no surprise he’s trying to limit the amount of attention in that regard.

He would probably prefer to go through his final 30 road games like the ones during his prime, with opposing supporters relentlessly booing him while he lights up the scoreboard for 40 points. But most fans want to appreciate his prior on-court greatness and those types of performances from him are now fleeting.

So Bryant wants to strike the right balance between taking in the appreciation and respecting the fact that there’s still a game to play.

 

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Kobe Bryant Told Byron Scott About Retirement During Game vs. Trail Blazers

Los Angeles Lakers head coach Byron Scott said Friday that Kobe Bryant informed him of his decision to retire at season’s end in the middle of a recent loss to the Portland Trail Blazers.

Baxter Holmes of ESPN passed along comments from Scott, who admitted the seemingly out-of-nowhere declaration caught him off guard. The former Lakers guard, who played alongside Bryant during the late 1990s, explained it came during a routine conversation after halftime Saturday.

“I said, ‘KB, I played you 20 minutes in the first half. I’m going to cut those minutes down. I’ve got to cut them down,'” Scott said. “He said, ‘That’s good, coach. That’s all right. I’m going to announce my retirement after the game.'”

His reaction was a state of disbelief that stuck with him for the rest of the contest, which the Lakers lost 108-96, with Bryant scoring 21 points.

“I said, ‘What?!'” Scott told ESPN. “That was the shock part. I was in that state for the rest of the game. Even when I was watching him play [and] I was watching him running up and down, I’m going, ‘Did he just tell me [that]?'”

The Lakers legend wasn’t bluffing. The next day he published a poem on the Players’ Tribune, making his plans public.

Scott also explained to ESPN the amazing level of calm the five-time NBA champion showed in making such a life-altering decision.

“He was at peace when he told me,” Scott said. “That’s the only thing I could say. During that game, when I was watching him and putting him [in the game] and taking him out, that’s the most relaxed and at peace that I’ve ever seen him.”

Perhaps the peaceful response is because Bryant finally had a definitive timetable in his mind. He’s played nothing like his usual All-Star self over the past three years, as all of the mileage started to take a cumulative toll on his body and frequently kept him on the sidelines.

This season, he’s averaging just 16.8 points while shooting 31 percent from the field in 15 games. His competitive fire has always set him apart from the crowd, but the physical nature of the game no longer comes as easily as it did during the prime of his career.

By telling his coach, albeit at an odd time, and then the world about his decision, he can go back to trying to enjoy the game again without being consistently asked when he’s going to call it quits. 

 

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Kobe Bryant Told Dwyane Wade He Was Retiring in a Cold Tub in Heat’s Facility

As we all know by now, Los Angeles Lakers legend Kobe Bryant is retiring at the end of this season. So every game from now on carries a little more weight than before—especially when Bryant is facing foes he’s dueled with numerous times over his long career.

Miami Heat star Dwyane Wade is one of those names. But when Wade was walking into the Heat’s facilities the night before the November 10 clash with the Lakers, he didn’t expect to see Kobe Bryant sitting in the cold tub. Why? Because Wade has never seen Heat president Pat Riley let an opposing player into the Heat’s facilities like that in his 13 years in Miami. After Wade joined Bryant in the cold tub, he learned that this would probably be the end for the Lakers legend.

NBA on TNT sideline reporter Rachel Nichols chronicled the story Wade told her:

Way too long for 140 characters, but here’s the Kobe story Dwyane Wade told me. This was last month, the night before the Heat hosted the Lakers here in Miami. Wade decided to stop by the arena and get in a soak in the cold tub. He goes through the Heat’s locker-room area, back over to the training room, and who is already just sitting there in the tub…Kobe Bryant.

Wade told me in the 13 years he’s played for the Heat, he’s never ever seen Pat Riley let an opposing player into the inner sanctum like that, using the team’s facilities and that, frankly, he was shocked. Of course, that’s the respect that Kobe has earned, and the two old friends had a great, long talk.

At the end of it, Kobe asked Dwyane if his sons were coming to the game the next night. Dwyane said ‘no,’ as it was a school night, and Kobe said, ‘you know what, bring them; I think it’s going to be my last time here.’ Dwyane brought the boys, they got a lifetime memory after the game, taking pictures with Kobe, and the Wade family got a little sneak preview of Kobe’s retirement announcement before anyone else.

That anecdote shows how revered and respected Kobe Bryant is around the NBA. 

[ Twitter, h/t Rachel Nichols ]

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Kobe Bryant Discusses Retirement, NBA Career, More on ‘Inside the NBA’

Rarely do sports fans get the opportunity to appreciate something before it is gone. When Los Angeles Lakers superstar Kobe Bryant recently announced his intention to retire after the 2015-16 season in a piece for the Players’ Tribune, he gave people the opportunity to do just that in the twilight stage of his career.

Bryant isn’t going to be the dominating force who became one of the greatest players in NBA history again, but fans can reflect on his career as they watch him play this final season. The 37-year-old guard did some reflecting of his own on Thursday’s Inside the NBA during an interview with Ernie Johnson Jr.

Turner Sports (which is a parent company of Bleacher Report) passed along the interview:

A number of takeaways jumped out during the back-and-forth. 

Perhaps most importantly for Bryant’s immediate future was the fact that he said “zero” developments could change his mind about retiring after the season, including a winning streak from the Lakers. Los Angeles fans may not want to see Bryant go, but the team will only move into the next stage of rebuilding once the living legend retires.

Bryant also had the opportunity to list the best competitors he has ever faced, and he said Michael Jordan and Allen Iverson “immediately” came to mind. Bryant has often been compared to Jordan throughout his career (and he listed the Chicago Bulls great, alongside Jerry West and Bill Russell, as one of the three most influential basketball people in his life whom he would write a letter to), and he squared off with Iverson and the Philadelphia 76ers in the 2001 NBA Finals.

Bryant and the Lakers overcame a Game 1 loss and won that series 4-1, although Iverson averaged an incredible 35.6 points per game.

That championship was one of three Bryant won with Shaquille O’Neal, but Bryant said if he had a do-over from his career, he would take more of a leadership role with the big man before the chemistry between the two stars “went south.”

Bryant listed his championship over the Boston Celtics in 2010 as his most memorable title when asked to rank his Larry O’Brien Trophies. Interestingly, that one came after O’Neal was no longer with the Lakers, but Bryant pointed to the fact that Los Angeles overcame a Boston team that knocked off his squad in the 2008 NBA Finals and the storied history between the two iconic franchises as the reasons.

The future Hall of Famer also insisted he was all right with not reaching Jordan’s six titles because he did everything he could to reach the mountaintop (and did so five times).

The rest of this season will likely play out as a farewell tour for his iconic career because the Lakers are not going to be playoff contenders. They are stuck in an awkward transition period between the Bryant era and the future, and head coach Byron Scott is still figuring out how to blend the superstar’s minutes with those of youngsters such as D’Angelo Russell and Jordan Clarkson.

Bryant is nowhere near the player he once was thanks to injuries and age, but basketball fans can still expect the occasional vintage performance like the one they saw Wednesday against the Washington Wizards, when he scored 31 points and hit critical shots in the final minutes of a 108-104 win.

Those are the types of showings that helped Bryant make 17 All-Star teams and capture five rings.

While there are likely few of those outings remaining, ESPN.com’s Marc Stein noted USA Basketball chairman Jerry Colangelo said Bryant could occupy a roster spot in the 2016 Olympics.

A potential gold medal would be a fitting way for the legend to go out on top.

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