Kobe Bryant to retire from the NBA
Kobe Bryant. (AAP)
Los Angeles Lakers star Kobe Bryant has penned a poem entitled `Dear Basketball' in which he reveals he'll retire at the end of this NBA season.
The 37-year-old Bryant, who is the third all-time leading scorer in the NBA, made the announcement in a post on The Players' Tribune on Sunday.
The decision was not totally unexpected, given that Bryant has said many times in recent weeks that he was considering making his 20th NBA season his last.
There's no more wondering now.
After two decades, two Olympic gold medals, five championship rings, 17 All-Star selections, an 81-point game that ranks as the second-best in NBA history and more than 32,000 points, Bryant's career is officially winding down.
"This season is all I have left to give," Bryant said in the poem.
He is in the final year of a lucrative two-year contract, worth an estimated US$25 million (approximately A$34.8 million) for the 2015/16 season alone.
