The legacy of the Black Mamba is coming to an end as the one and only Kobe Bryant, announced on Sunday (Nov. 29) that he will officially put the basketball down and step away from the game to wrap up his 20 year professional career with the Los Angeles Lakers. As many fans reminisce and look back on all the unforgettable memories that Bryant brought to the NBA, some may wonder what about now made him make the decision. The superstar sat down with Robin Roberts on
Good Morning America and revealed his reason behind his retirement.
“You know, going through my entire career, I’ve never really understood what athletes meant when they said, ‘You — when you know you know.’ But now I certainly understand it … So once I knew this was it, might as well say it,” Bryant expressed. After a few missed postseason appearances and experiencing numerous injuries that kept him sidelined from the game longer than usual Mamba fashion, Bryant shared that it all factored into where he stands now. “It was something that kind of evolved over the last three years, you know, with the Achilles injury, that really frightened me. Because you know, it was like, ‘My career could be over now.’ It scared me. ‘What am I going do next?’ sort of thing. So I took that time to start trying to figure that out,” he said.
