Kobe Bryant’s Retirement Letter: Read Kobe’s Full ‘Dear Basketball’ Letter From ‘The Players Tribune’ [Video]

Say goodbye to the Black Mamba. Kobe Bryant has announced his retirement from basketball, and the letter called “Dear Basketball” on The Players’ Tribune?, explains Kobe’s love of the game. As reported by TMZ, the 2015 to 2016 season will be the last one for Bryant to play professionally. Kobe’s “Dear Basketball” letter begins with memories of Bryant rolling up his dad’s socks and using them as mini basketballs. (As of this writing, the “Dear Basketball” letter written by Kobe has crashed the site where it was published, but find links Kobe’s “Dear Basketball” letter below.)

“Kobe Bryant. Dear Basketball: From the moment. I started rolling my dad’s tube socks and shooting imaginary game-winning shots in the Great Western Forum, I knew one thing was real: I fell in love with you.”

Dear Basketball: https://t.co/KDecft6BO2 #KB20

— Kobe Bryant (@kobebryant) November 29, 2015

Kobe’s full “Dear Basketball” letter has caused to Players’ Tribune website to crash, but thankfully, sites like Tech Crunch had the forethought to republish the whole thing — and apparently, excellent servers. In his tribute to basketball, Kobe has written more of a poem that’s a complete love letter to the game. Bryant wrote in his letter to basketball that he loved the game with all of his mind, body, spirit, and soul.

“As a six-year-old boy
Deeply in love with you
I never saw the end of the tunnel.
I only saw myself
Running out of one.”

“And so I ran.
I ran up and down every court
After every loose ball for you.
You asked for my hustle
I gave you my heart
Because it came with so much more.”

Kobe wrote in his basketball love letter about playing even when he was hurt, a fact well-documented on Bryant’s ESPN special documentary seen below.

https://youtu.be/4H2C1IC8ayI

Bryant wrote in his letter that basketball called him, and Kobe wrote that he did everything for basketball. Kobe said it’s what one does when a thing like basketball makes him feel so alive.

“You gave a six-year-old boy his Laker dream
And I’ll always love you for it.
But I can’t love you obsessively for much longer.
This season is all I have left to give.
My heart can take the pounding
My mind can handle the grind
But my body knows it’s time to say goodbye.”

“And that’s OK.
I’m ready to let you go.
I want you to know now
So we both can savor every moment we have left together.
The good and the bad.
We have given each other
All that we have.”

However, Kobe closed his eloquent letter to basketball — a “Dear John” letter of sorts — with Bryant telling basketball in his breakup letter that Kobe will always love basketball. Kobe, who burst onto the scene as a basketball player who knew four languages, would before long be compared to some of the greatest basketball players of all time. Bryant fans have placed Kobe right up there with Michael Jordan and LeBron James — with some Kobe fans placing him above Jordan and James.

The accolades are plenty for Kobe Bryant. pic.twitter.com/nOanCBMXYv

— NBA on ESPN (@ESPNNBA) November 30, 2015

With a career sidetracked by rape accusations leveled against Kobe, Bryant spoke in the ESPN documentary about his guilt during that time period. Bryant said he blamed himself for the miscarriage that his wife Vanessa experienced during that time, because of all of the stress she underwent. According to Lakers Nation, Kobe adopted that Black Mamba nickname as an alter ego to deal with the crisis.

Now that the letter to basketball has caused plenty of retweets on Twitter and caused The Players’ Tribune to crash under the weight of those wanting to read what Bryant has written to the dear game of basketball, expect plenty of kudos and tributes to come to the man.

Some of the most recent photos of Kobe in his #24 uniform playing for the Los Angeles Lakers showed him pitted against the Golden State Warriors on November 24, 2015 in Oakland, California.

[Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images]