Kobe Bryant Haters Rejoice His Retirement


Basketball fans across the country are buzzing today with the recent news of Kobe Bryant’s retirement from basketball. According to the L.A. Times, Bryant announced his retirement on Sunday, stating that he will retire at the end of the season. Kobe Bryant haters were also quick to join in the conversation.

Bryant simply stated, “My body knows it’s time to say goodbye.” He later added, “There’s no sadness… I had so many great times.”

Kobe Bryant retires

At age 37, and with his stats declining over the past season, his decision to retire from basketball didn’t come as much of a shock to anyone. Although by retiring this year, Bryant will be giving up the chance to go for his sixth championship ring next season.

Magic Johnson, another Lakers icon, recently compared Kobe Bryant to Michael Jordan when news of his retirement was announced. Michael Jordan currently holds six championship rings for his basketball tenure with the Chicago Bulls. Johnson said, “You couldn’t stop him. His will to win was incredible and he stayed in the gym like no other. This guy was 24/7 basketball … There will never be another Kobe Bryant. He’ll probably go down as the second greatest scoring guard. He’s the closest thing we’ve seen to Michael Jordan.”

Fans across the globe, as well as other fellow athletes, have shown their support for his decision by taking to social media, including Twitter, to express their appreciation for Bryant’s basketball career.

Twitter user and Kobe fan @lamessican also showed support for Bryant by tweeting the following.

But not everyone was so willing to offer words of encouragement following Bryant’s retirement announcement. Kobe Bryant haters were also coming out of the woodwork with words of harsh criticism for the basketball star.

Tom Ziller of SB Nation said it best when he wrote in his article about being a Kobe Bryant hater, “Kobe isn’t retiring so much as he is avoiding the ‘Allen Iverson waived by the Grizzlies’ headlines … He says he’s leaving the game, but the game has done left him. It’s not just now over. It’s been over.” He later added, “Kobe’s personality — that of a megalomaniac — held that he should get every final shot, no matter how well-covered he’d been. In his retirement poem, Kobe mentions being a kid shooting a wad of paper into the wastebasket, counting down the final ticks of an imaginary game before the heave. We’ve all been that kid. Kobe was that adult. He let childhood daydreaming dominate his adult behavior. The shot was always his. Control was always his.”

Lakers Head Coach Byron Scott has come under much scrutiny this season for refusing to bench Kobe Bryant, despite his poor performance this basketball season. Many fans and players have criticized Scott for setting a double standard for younger players, due to his and Bryant’s friendship since 1996.

Kobe Bryant haters aside, his performance as one of the greatest basketball players on the court for the past two decades will certainly make him memorable for years to come.

[Photo credit: Wikipedia and Getty Images]

Kobe Bryant Retires

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