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Good find Bum, I agree. But the goty emoticons weren't necessary ... LOL
Plain and simple: It's time for Kobe to ready for his exit
However Kobe Bryant's shoulder injury plays out, it's clear that he is fast approaching the end of his storied NBA career.
POSTED: JAN 23, 2015 12:43 PM ET
BY SEKOU SMITH
NBA.COM
The ugly and inevitable end for Kobe Bean Bryant is near.
I know it. You know it. And unfortunately for him and his Hall of Fame career, Bryant knows it, too.
It's time.
It's time for Kobe to start making preparations for a graceful exit from this game.
Three major injuries in three years and the uncertainty of the next six weeks, six months and beyond make for even more uncertainty for Kobe, the Lakers and a fan base that has to feel like that 2010 le was a lifetime ago.
If the results from the MRI he is scheduled to have today reveal a completely torn rotator cuff in his right shoulder, surgery is needed and he'll be done for the next six months. A partial tear means rehabilitation and rest could do the trick and Bryant could play through whatever pain there is. He's done that plenty of time over the years, and could continue his quest to defy the critics who believe Father Time is exacting revenge on Kobe for years of pushing himself to the brink.
Whatever the MRI shows, it's time.
Breaking down like this, with age and the relentless grinding of his body into aches, pains and injuries that I'm sure a young Kobe never thought would be a part of his legacy, is not the end anyone would wish on his worst enemy.
But we've seen it before -- great players hanging on with all they've got. (Larry Bird laying on his belly in front of the bench to stretch his gimpy back comes to mind.) The only honorable way for an all-time NBA great to go out is on his shield, the way so many before Kobe have throughout the years.
You hate to see really good players go down and not be able to watch them play, if you're a fan. Or coach with or against them, if you're in the mix. I hate to see something like that.
– San Antonio Spurs coach Gregg Popovich
That's not necessary in this case. Kobe's body is speaking to him with each set back.
It's time.
"You hate to see any player hurt. But when Derrick [Rose] was out all those games and Kobe's been out -- it's better for the league if those guys are there," said Gregg Popovich, whose Spurs played Rose's Chicago Bulls Thursday night and will face the Bryant-less Lakers tonight in San Antonio (8:30 ET, League Pass). "It's as simple as that. You hate to see really good players go down and not be able to watch them play, if you're a fan. Or coach with or against them, if you're in the mix. I hate to see something like that."
We all do.
But there is no way around it, not even in San Antonio, where maintenance plans and that secrete a Fountain of Youth that Popovich keeps Tim Duncan drinking from season after season will one day run dry.
Kobe could keep fighting and clawing to stay in the game, to stay relevant in an era where LeBron James, Kevin Durant and so many others have passed him up. (Yes, Kobe was voted by fans as a 2015 All-Star Game starter for the 17th time, but we all know that's James Harden's spot). No one will blame him for making one last comeback next season and picking up that hefty $25 million payday from the Lakers.
But it doesn't change the bottom line for Kobe and what he's dealing with after nearly two decades of dominance.
It's time.
All of this happening around the nine-year anniversary of his 81-point game against the Toronto Raptors is a twisted irony. There was a time when nothing could slow Kobe down: not an opposing defense, conventional wisdom, the pleading of teammates, coaches, friends and even family members who knew that he couldn't keep this pace up forever.
Good luck convincing that Kobe that this day and time would one day come.
The idea of being 36 and watching the temple that is his body systematically fail surely never crossed his mind. And yet here he is, like so many of us -- world class athletes and weekend warriors alike -- dealing with the one thing that foils us all ... Father Time!
He doesn't owe us another second. Kobe's credentials are set. The only thing fueling him now is that Hall of Fame bravado that carried him from high school phenom to global superstar during his NBA career.
There's no logic in him pushing his body over the edge on this season's lottery-bound Lakers team that is nowhere near the championship outfits he's used to working on.
Kobe's season averages of 22.3 ppg (on a woeful 37.2 percent shooting), 5.7 rpg and 5.6 apg [and 37% shooting too ] are more than respectable for player who has missed eight of the Lakers' last 16 games resting on a maintenance plan that he reluctantly accepted.
Even for a guy who has famously played through the bumps, bruises and aches and pains associated with an NBA career, it's not worth it now. It's like his good friend LeBron James said over the summer, "None of us can play forever. We've all gotta go sometime."
For Kobe, now more than ever, it's time.
There's no guarantee Kobe will still be in uniform for the L.A. renaissance that he and so many others believe is in the offing.
There simply might not be the fairy-tale ending that the Buss family and the generations of rabid, Kobe-adoring Lakers fans are dreaming of for the heart, soul, face and spirit of this franchise.
Even if this latest setback isn't of the season-ending variety, it's a part of the end of career scenario that is obvious to most of us.
The end is near for the Kobe "Bean" Bryant we've known. The aura of invincibility has been stripped away by the reality that nothing lasts forever in this game.
It's time.
Sekou Smith is a staff writer for NBA.com. You can e-mail him here and follow him on Twitter.
The views on this page do not necessarily reflect the views of the NBA, its clubs or Turner Broadcasting.
Good find Bum, I agree. But the goty emoticons weren't necessary ... LOL
My fat Sekou dropping truth nukes
Sekou with the photo bombing goods...
@ the pics
He'll earn next year and then retire. I think he knows this as well
We all now that, kobe is gonna drag the laker allure down with him kicking and screaming. And guess what? You'll love every minute of it.
Dude could've accepted a smaller role on his team (like Duncan did years ago) and his career would've been extended by another 3-4 years (see Ray Allen past 35). But he has such a huge ego he'd never accept the scenario where he had to play a secondary role on his team. Byron had no need to apologize, it was Kobe's own ego that killed his career imho.
nah, he's too bad a shooter or defender to ever be an efficient role player.
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