Kobe Bryant to Retire From Basketball After 20 Seasons With the Los Angeles Lakers: His Teammates React

NBA player writes a poem published in the Player's Tribune and says he is "at peace" with his decision

Say it ain't so! Kobe Bryant is retiring after this season. The 37-year-old Los Angeles Lakers shooting guard announced his decision Sunday in a poem he wrote and published in the Players' Tribune. Traffic was so heavy, the website quickly crashed.

Here is Bryant's poem in full:

Dear Basketball,

From the moment

I started rolling my dad's tube socks

And shooting imaginary

Game-winning shots

In the Great Western Forum

I knew one thing was real:

I fell in love with you.

A love so deep I gave you my all —

From my mind & body

To my spirit & soul.

As a six-year-old boy

Deeply in love with you

I never saw the end of the tunnel.

I only saw myself

Running out of one.

And so I ran.

I ran up and down every court

After every loose ball for you.

You asked for my hustle

I gave you my heart

Because it came with so much more.

I played through the sweat and hurt

Not because challenge called me

But because YOU called me.

I did everything for YOU

Because that's what you do

When someone makes you feel as

Alive as you've made me feel.

You gave a six-year-old boy his Laker dream

And I'll always love you for it.

But I can't love you obsessively for much longer.

This season is all I have left to give.

My heart can take the pounding

My mind can handle the grind

But my body knows it's time to say goodbye.

And that's OK.

I'm ready to let you go.

I want you to know now

So we both can savor every moment we have left together.

The good and the bad.

We have given each other

All that we have.

And we both know, no matter what I do next

I'll always be that kid

With the rolled up socks

Garbage can in the corner

:05 seconds on the clock

Ball in my hands.

5 ... 4 ... 3 ... 2 ... 1

Love you always,

Kobe

Bryant, a 17-time All-Star who played for 20 seasons in L.A., is ranked third on the NBA's all-time points leaders list, behind former NBA players Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Karl Malone.

Following the Los Angeles Lakers' 107-103 loss against the Indiana Pacers, in which Bryant scored 13 points on 4-of-20 shooting, he elaborated on his decision to retire from the sport. "I honestly feel good about it. I really do. I'm at peace with it. I'm excited for it to come," he said, adding, "I just had to accept the fact that I don't want to do this anymore and I'm OK with that."

Shortly after Bryant announced his retirement plans, NBA Commissioner Adam Silver released a statement via the organization's Twitter account. "With 17 NBA All-Star selections, an NBA MVP, five NBA championships with the Lakers, two Olympic gold medals and a relentless work ethic, Kobe Bryant is one of the greatest players in the history of our game. Whether competing in the Finals or hoisting jump shots after midnight in an empty gym, Kobe has an unconditional love for the game," he said, adding, "I join Kobe's millions of fans around the world in congratulating him on an outstanding NBA career and thank him for so many thrilling memories."

Postgame, Bryant's teammate Jordan Clarkson told reporters, "I got to enjoy him growing and becoming the person who he is, so it's pretty cool to be around this time." During the press conference, he added, "For me it's sad. Growing up he was my hero. I tried doing everything like him. He's my idol." Nick Young, AKA Swaggy P, added that the news took him by surprise. "We just dug deep inside and started playing. It was emotional hearing that. It was like it's really happening, when you hear those 'Kobe's retiring' [rumors]," said Young, who like Clarkson, scored 22 points during Sunday's game. "We all kind of was thinking it, but once he said out his mouth, it was like the air's out the room."

Young also admitted that Bryant's retirement news made him "sad," explaining, "It's tough to see him go out that, because it's no more Kobe. That's the Lakers, the face of the Lakers. Kobe been a Laker for 20 years and I was like, 'Hey, Julius [Randle], that's some tough shoes to carry. Kobe put up a lot of buckets out here and got a lot of range, man. Y'all young boys better be prepared."

Going forward, Young said, "I think everybody gonna give him a celebration. It's gonna be a Laker home stand every road trip, I think. We got to. He put in so many years, so many shots in the gym practicing. Everything. He dedicated everything to basketball, so you gotta honor that."