Los Angeles Lakers: Kobe Bryant Retiring At The Right Time

Kobe Bryant is finally calling it quits after this season, and it’s the right move for the Los Angeles Lakers superstar.

How many points is Kobe Bryant averaging this season? 30? 28? 24?

No. He’s putting up 15.5 points on 16.9 shot attempts per game.

We all knew the end was coming. The signs have been as clear as the Los Angeles Lakers‘ dismal future for the past few seasons. The mounting injuries, the lack of a vertical leap and most importantly the inability to be a positive factor on the court for his team of 20 years.

Now it’s just been made official, as Kobe announced himself that he won’t have a locker in the Staples Center next season.

Unfortunately, the fairy tale has come to a close and we all have to accept that the magnificent scorer we watched for two decades is gone.

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Bryant has never shot as poorly over the course of a season as he is now. His 30.5 percent shooting from the field would rank dead last among his career numbers.

Father Time is undefeated. He took away the antics of Michael Jordan, Larry Bird and others. He’s in the process of diminishing Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce as well.

It’s not like Bryant will be walking away from the game in his prime. He’s done being the superhero offensive talent who can lead his team through the fires of hell into a playoff spot in the Western Conference.

His turnaround jumper no longer exists, and you won’t see him attacking the rim with reckless abandon like he did in years past.

Perhaps it’s his stubbornness when it comes to his role on the floor that’s led to all of this. He’s taking more shots than a lot of players in the league, let anyone on the team. He has the worst PER of anyone above him in field goal attempts, and he has the third-worst points per shot average in the NBA at 0.91.

When you watch Bryant play this season, he looks like he’s in mortal combat with his body as he tries to refuse any sort of decrease in the difficulty of the shots he takes. Turnaround fadeaways and healthy three-pointers are on the menu each night instead of timely cuts to the basket and spot-up threes.

In a league that has finally embraced advanced statistics, Bryant takes the two most ineffective shots in the game regularly, all adding to why his efficiency numbers are incredibly low.

It’s not all a coincidence. Bryant’s had the ball in his hands with a green light for most of his career. He’s a rhythm shooter at heart. He does his little dribble dance to create space and rhythmically move into a shot. Never has Bryant been reduced to a spot-up shooting role, so it’s simply not in his game to suddenly become someone different on the court.

It’s why he’s shooting the way he is from the field. Same goes for his 19.5 percent shooting from three-point range. Bryant doesn’t know how to make things easier on himself.

So yes Kobe, you are making the right decision to retire. Your game no longer fits in the NBA, and that’s ok. Things are different now thanks to the pace-and-space style that many have built their teams around including the Golden State Warriors.

We will always remember you for your timely buckets and drive that led you to work hard and never give up.

Even though this is the last we will be seeing of you, these terrible shots won’t haunt our memories like a bad nightmare.

Five championships and a legacy of scoring prowess haven’t faded overnight.

Next: NBA Power Rankings: Week 5

Thank you Kobe for everything you did for the Lakers and the game of basketball. You will be sorely missed, especially next season you aren’t on the floor in the purple and yellow on opening night.

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Los Angeles Lakers: Kobe Bryant Is Retiring At The Right Time

By Nathan Grubel | Nov 30, 2015

Kobe Bryant is finally calling it quits after this season, and it’s the right move for the Los Angeles Lakers superstar.