Kobe Bryant will retire on his terms, may play beyond current contract
Los Angeles Lakers' legend Kobe Bryant has two very lucrative years left on his contract but may play beyond this current deal.
When Kobe Bryant and the Los Angeles Lakers agreed to the current two-year contract extension that will pay him $48.5 million through the 2015-16 season, many people wondered if Bryant would play beyond those two years. The 36-year old future Hall of Famer has suffered two big injuries the last two seasons and it's hard for players with Bryant's responsibilities to keep up a star quality of play in their late 30's.
However, Kobe is a different type of guy that most athletes we've seen and he's possibly looking at playing beyond this contract if he still feels he can contribute. He's not going the Derek Jeter route of a farewell tour just quite yet. He's going to retire on his own terms and says he doesn't an end to the tunnel of his career physically. From Marc Spears of Yahoo Sports:
Kobe Bryant watched on television as Derek Jeter walked off the field at Yankee Stadium for the last time last week. The Los Angeles Lakers guard hopes to eventually walk away just like Jeter did. But he also hopes to delay that day by a couple years.
"The biggest key for anybody in retirement is you always want to retire by choice," Bryant told Yahoo Sports. "Hopefully, I will be fortunate enough to have that option. You don't want to see another catastrophic injury or something like that. When you walk away, you want to feel like you walked away on your terms."
Bryant will make $23.5 million this season and $25 million next season, the final year of his contract. Can he play beyond those two seasons and perhaps be on the floor at 40?
"Whether I do or not, we'll have to see that two years from now," Bryant said. "I don't know, but I could [play longer]. Physically, I don't see an end to the tunnel."
Prior to the Achilles' tendon injury at the end of the 2012-13 season, Bryant was playing some of his best offensive basketball in years. He was more efficient as a scorer than the previous couple years and looked to be extending his prime in a way some didn't expect. Then the big injury hit and he only made it six games before suffering a knee fracture in 2013-14. Those two big injuries have left some fans and pundits wondering if he can be healthy enough moving forward to meet his own standards as a player.
If he can, then we'll see him trying to fight his way to victories with a Lakers team that doesn't seem capable of keeping up in the ultra competitive Western Conference. Kobe is knocking on the door of moving up to the top of the all-time scoring list and his résumé could truly be polished in a way we've never seen if he's able to stay healthy in this current contract and possibly beyond.
