It’s been more or less known without anybody outright saying it for a while that next year will be Kobe Bryant’s final year. His contract is up in 2016, which will put his career at 20 seasons, all with the Lakers, and the last three have ended with injuries.
Lakers president Jeanie Buss seems to know the end of the Kobe era is coming, if you go by her comments on a Sunday morning Bleacher Report radio interview:On @br_radio “NBA Sunday Tip,” @JeanieBuss on Kobe Bryant: “I look at this season as a celebration of his 20 years with the Lakers.”
— Ethan J. Skolnick (@EthanJSkolnick) April 26, 2015Bryant has said that he doesn’t want a Derek Jeter-style farewell tour when he hangs it up, but it seems pretty obvious that it’s coming. And for the impact he’s had on the NBA and the sport worldwide, he deserves to take a victory lap regardless of what the Lakers do next season.