Kobe Bryant is one of the greatest players to ever play basketball and is a sure-fire Hall of Famer. Kobe must feel that he has nothing left to prove, because he just made it clear that he will never play pro basketball again.

There were rumors that Bryant could come out of retirement to play in the BIG3 next year, but it appears those were unfounded. There was even some talk that Bryant could come out of retirement to suit up alongside LeBron James in the Staples Center. Of course, those were pipe dreams.

When asked by Rich Eisen whether or not he would consider making a return to the court, Bryant began laughing. The conversation about his retirement is around the 10-minute mark:

Bryant said that he wanted to pursue challenges outside of the game of basketball. Bryant said:

“I will never come back to the game. Ever. I'm here to show people that we can do much more than that. Creating this business, winning an Oscar, winning an Emmy and an Annie, those are things that are showing other athletes that come after, no, no. There's more to this thing. So I would never. It's not even a thought.”

Bryant sounds like someone who is happy with his decision and has made his peace with his retirement. Rather than dwelling on the past, Bryant is using his competitive fire to fuel his life after basketball. Although his basketball career is over, he's not doing any slowing down.