Former Los Angeles Lakers star Kobe Bryant retired in a flash, scoring 60 points in his final game and leaving the franchise as its highest-scoring player of all time.
In 20 years, Bryant epitomized the idea of competition, nicknaming himself the Black Mamba and giving other players stories for days about just how hard he worked and competed throughout his career.
But not that Bryant's been done playing for two years, he does not have that competitive itch anymore, per Shams Chanaria of The Vertical.
“Nah, I don’t need to keep my competitive juices flowing,” Bryant said. “It’s kind of like a myth when you have an athlete who’s done something awesome in their career and you feel like ultra competitive and you need something to move that, too. I don’t have that, to be honest with you. I don’t have that.”
Bryant spent the equivalent of an entire adult life competing in the highest level of basketball. And when he finally decided to hang it up, it seemed as though he was at peace. He definitely portrayed that demeanor at his retirement ceremony on Monday.
So it's not a complete surprise that after so many years of caring about nothing but competing, he's OK with putting that aside, in a sense, and moving on to the next chapter of his life.
For video of Bryant's remarks, see below.
Another Part to Kobe Bryant sitdown: Does Kobe still play ball? “Nah, I don’t need to keep my competitive juices flowing. It’s kind of like a myth when you have an athlete who’s done something awesome…” pic.twitter.com/gveoPMIMdk
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) December 20, 2017
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