Kobe Bryant made his NBA debut on November 03, 1996, for the Los Angeles Lakers. At the time, Bryant was just 18 years and 72 days old, so obviously, there were a lot of doubts about what path he would end up on.
After having an amazing career that lasted for 20 seasons, the Mamba is now remembered as one of the greatest players to ever play in the league. During his sensational career, Kobe helped the Lakers win five NBA Championships. On top of that, he had a plethora of other accolades to fill his resume.
Up until the 2012-13 NBA season, Bryant was still one of the better players in the league. But when he tore his Achilles which also made him cry, Kobe’s playing style was never the same. Most people realized that it was only a matter of time before he announced his retirement, and the day arrived on April 13, 2016.
Vanessa Bryant Recalls Kobe Bryant’s Last Few Years In The NBA
During the last few years of his career, Kobe was a shell of himself due to adjusting his playing style after the Achilles injury. His wife, Vanessa Bryant, revealed in the latest episode of the Lakers’ ongoing docuseries that Kobe used to say that he would retire many times in the latter years of his career.
But when he indeed retired from the league, Vanessa revealed it was very sad to see him let go of that aspect of his life.
Vanessa Bryant on @kobebryant’s ladder yrs:
“Towards the ladder part of his career after every yr he was like, I’m going to retire. I’m like okay…Cool! Then he finally did. To be honest it was so sad to see that part of his life go.”#LakersDoc #LakeShow #NBATwitter pic.twitter.com/TUI2c3H4It
— Landon Buford (@LandonBuford) October 3, 2022
“Towards the latter part of his career, after every year, he was like, I’m going to retire. I’m like, okay. And he’s like, I’m gonna retire this year, cool! And then he finally did. To be honest, it was so sad to see that part of his life go. Because I knew how important it was to him.”
Seeing Kobe retire was an emotional moment for his entire fanbase. After all, the Mamba had been playing elite basketball for 20 years.
In the final game of his phenomenal career, Kobe ended up scoring 60 points. To this date, Kobe’s farewell game remains one of the most amazing games that fans have ever seen.
