Kobe Bryant wants to have the same send off just like Derek Jeter. According to Bryant, he wants to walk away from the games just the same way as Jeter but he hopes to wait for a couple more years. During an interview with Yahoo Sports, Bryant talk about retirement and much more.
He said "The biggest key for anybody in retirement is you always want to retire by choice. Hopefully, I will be fortunate enough to have that option. You don't want to see another catastrophic injury or something like that. When you walk away, you want to feel like you walked away on your terms."
Bryant has played for the NBA for 19 seasons, though plagued with injury he is confident that he would be able to play during the preseason opener against the Denver Nuggets in San Diego.
He said "It's a pretty tough injury. I'm not going to lie. There are a lot of things that go through your mind when something like that happens. But I just went on my grind, just kind of chipped away at it day by day. I feel pretty good as a result."
According to Lakers assistant coach Mark Madsen and former team mate, he is not seeing Bryant retiring anytime soon. "I think Kobe can play two to four more years. I saw him play this summer. He looked great. Kobe looked strong. He had a couple game-winners [in the scrimmages]."
When asked whether he can play beyond his last two season and go beyond forty, he answered "Whether I do or not, we'll have to see that two years from now. I don't know, but I could [play longer]. Physically, I don't see an end to the tunnel."
The interview also tackled about how Michael Jordan left and retired. According to records, Jordan averaged 22.9 and 20 points during his last two seasons. He alos had a hard time with his injury when he exited. But Bryant said, he is still impressed with MJ.
He said "He still left on his terms because he wanted to leave. If he wanted to continue to play the game, he'd continue to play the game even if it's not at the level that we are all accustomed to. You want to play, you play. You don't want to play, you walk away. But at least it's not because of a devastating injury."
He added "For me, it's the same thing. When I leave, it's because I choose to."
