Los Angeles Lakers news and rumors reveal that Kobe Bryant will retire while bleeding purple and gold as he insisted that he's a very loyal person. With the team suffering from its worst start yet, is the Black Mamba taking too many shot attempts?

The future hall of famer weighed in on all the Los Angeles Lakers news and rumors about him leaving the franchise in an interview with Yahoo Sports' Marc Spears.

"I hear the chatter of Kobe should ask out and he should go and play for a contender in this latter stage of his career but that's not what I do. I'm extremely loyal to the Lakers, he said. "I believe in fighting through the tough times as well as enjoying the good times. It's my responsibility to get us to be the best that we can be. It's important that we approach that on a day-to-day basis."

Getting a victory by sheer perseverance, however, won't be as easy this time compared to when he was in his prime back in 2006 when he carried a ragtag team to the playoffs on a scoring binge, capped with an 81-point game against the Toronto Raptors.

Coming off two major injuries and a lot of mileage on those knees, it would be extremely difficult for Kobe Bryant to shoulder the scoring load for his team.

In other Los Angeles Lakers news and rumors, Kobe Bryant was criticized for shooting too much as he threw up 37 shots in a loss to the Phoenix Suns on Tuesday.

But he told Los Angeles Lakers reporter Mike Trudell that he's not worried about all the criticisms about his shot attempts. "I was working hard to get opportunities. When you play with a lot of energy there should be a lot of opportunity," he said.