# Is Kobe Bryant's Career finished? **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [April 13, 2013, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-kobe-bryants-career-finished/655626 "2013-04-13T19:09:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a9a28c/32.png) [@pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pseudotriton_ruber_ruber)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2013, 7:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-kobe-bryants-career-finished/655626/21 "2013-04-15T07:07:11Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > This reminded me of Isiah Thomas. He was playing his last season (1994) and tore his Achilles’ tendon before the season ended. Isiah choose to go ahead and retire. It just wasn’t worth trying to rehab at his age. > > Kobe is probably in better shape. IIRC Isiah was a lot more beat up physically and the tendon injury just finished him off. Hmmm…maybe Kobe has a career ahead of him as a GM leading some franchise down the toilet for a decade… ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2013, 11:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-kobe-bryants-career-finished/655626/22 "2013-04-15T11:44:40Z")
> [@pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](#): > > Hmmm…maybe Kobe has a career ahead of him as a GM leading some franchise down the toilet for a decade… He’s got the sexual predator credentials. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2013, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-kobe-bryants-career-finished/655626/23 "2013-04-15T14:47:46Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > This reminded me of Isiah Thomas. He was playing his last season (1994) and tore his Achilles’ tendon before the season ended. Isiah choose to go ahead and retire. It just wasn’t worth trying to rehab at his age. That’s the difference between saying you’re retiring this season and you’re retiring next season. > [@Darth\_Sensitive](#): > > Also, to finish up his counting stats. If he were that interested in those stats, he’d play a few more years. That’s one reason I was surprised when he said next season would be it. He could pass Jordan in total points next year but he’d need another three years to get in range of Kareem. I thought for sure he wanted to do that, but maybe it’s not that important to him. > [@Stink Fish Pot](#): > > Unless he has a record or two he has an eye on, he’s not going to win a ring for this year or next year, so when is enough enough? They weren’t getting out of the first round this year even if he’d been healthy, but that could still be a formidable team next year if they keep Howard and he’s at full strength (I think they will and he will be) and Kobe and Nash are there and healthy. I don’t think they’d beat Oklahoma City or Miami, but that’s a very strong base. If they surround them with some actual depth, which they didn’t come close to doing this year, then who knows. ---
**Author:** ![crypto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b3f665/32.png) [@crypto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crypto)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2013, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-kobe-bryants-career-finished/655626/24 "2013-04-15T15:14:28Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > They weren’t getting out of the first round this year even if he’d been healthy, but that could still be a formidable team next year if they keep Howard and he’s at full strength (I think they will and he will be) and Kobe and Nash are there and healthy. I don’t think they’d beat Oklahoma City or Miami, but that’s a very strong base. If they surround them with some actual depth, which they didn’t come close to doing this year, then who knows. I don’t know about this. On paper, I agree with you, but I am still not convinced that Kobe and Howard can co-exist. Howard is a strange cat, and he seems to be too sensitive to play with Kobe. And Kobe doesn’t have time for sensitive. He doesn’t care about your personal problems, he wants to win. I also don’t think he will like any coach except Phil, and Phil is not coming back. He won’t announce anything about retiring any time soon. He’ll go through the rehab. But I don’t see him playing more than one year if he does come back. He’s been battered and bruised pretty well over his career, and he doesn’t have anything else to prove. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2013, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-kobe-bryants-career-finished/655626/25 "2013-04-15T15:37:14Z")
> [@Stink Fish Pot](#): > > I don’t know about this. On paper, I agree with you, but I am still not convinced that Kobe and Howard can co-exist. I’m not sure what’s going to happen with them either. But ultimately the Lakers can pay him the most money and there are only a couple of other teams that could get into the running. And whatever personal disagreements they have will be much more manageable if he’s healthy and the team is winning, I think. > [@](#): > > I also don’t think he will like any coach except Phil, and Phil is not coming back. They’re not really playing like a D’Antoni team, for whatever that’s worth. I don’t think Kobe much cares for him, but they made their choice. > [@](#): > > He won’t announce anything about retiring any time soon. He’ll go through the rehab. But I don’t see him playing more than one year if he does come back. He said about a year ago that next season would be it. Obviously he can change his mind any time up to and after that. ---
**Author:** ![DigitalC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ebca7d/32.png) [@DigitalC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DigitalC)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2013, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-kobe-bryants-career-finished/655626/26 "2013-04-16T01:04:06Z")
> [@Stink Fish Pot](#): > > He’s been battered and bruised pretty well over his career, and he doesn’t have anything else to prove. He has one thing to prove now, that he can come back from this. ---
**Author:** ![Darth\_Sensitive](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/58956e/32.png) [@Darth\_Sensitive](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darth_Sensitive)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2013, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-kobe-bryants-career-finished/655626/27 "2013-04-16T01:41:23Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > That’s the difference between saying you’re retiring this season and you’re retiring next season. > > If he were that interested in those stats, he’d play a few more years. That’s one reason I was surprised when he said next season would be it. He could pass Jordan in total points next year but he’d need another three years to get in range of Kareem. I thought for sure he wanted to do that, but maybe it’s not that important to him. > > They weren’t getting out of the first round this year even if he’d been healthy, but that could still be a formidable team next year if they keep Howard and he’s at full strength (I think they will and he will be) and Kobe and Nash are there and healthy. I don’t think they’d beat Oklahoma City or Miami, but that’s a very strong base. If they surround them with some actual depth, which they didn’t come close to doing this year, then who knows. My impression was that he wanted to pass Jordan just to show he was the best (from Kobe’s POV), but no need to pass Kareem, who played in a different era in a different role. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2013, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-kobe-bryants-career-finished/655626/28 "2013-04-16T14:36:25Z")
> [@Darth\_Sensitive](#): > > My impression was that he wanted to pass Jordan just to show he was the best (from Kobe’s POV), but no need to pass Kareem, who played in a different era in a different role. He wants to tie or pass Jordan in championships. I’m not sure he cares about being third or fourth in points- Jordan is third all-time and that doesn’t seem to hurt anyone’s opinion of him. ---
**Author:** ![crypto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b3f665/32.png) [@crypto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crypto)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2013, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-kobe-bryants-career-finished/655626/29 "2013-04-16T23:18:19Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > He wants to tie or pass Jordan in championships. I’m not sure he cares about being third or fourth in points- Jordan is third all-time and that doesn’t seem to hurt anyone’s opinion of him. What is it, 6-5 now? I guess that’s doable, IF he comes back healthy AND they surround him with a team that can beat LeBron and co. Just heard something interesting on PTI today, and I didn’t understand all of it. Maybe someone else out there did hear it and make sense out if it. But the gist was that if the Lakers and Kobe can agree that he won’t play at all next year, the Lakers can put him in a special category of player which will somehow save them around 80 million dollars. And supposedly, they are thinking hard about this option. The only way this works is if the Lakers stick him in this box, and Kobe agrees not to play AT ALL. Apparently, though, Kobe can come back and play for another team if and when he’s ready, and if that happens, the Lakers lose some of the 80 million and they lose Kobe, for the one or two years he decides he wants to play. Can someone explain this better than I have? I don’t know much about the NBA and I don’t follow it closely enough to even know what Wilbon and Kornheiser were talking about on PTI. Based on what I heard, if I was the Laker GM, I would do it in a heartbeat, since I’d have a chunk of cash to go out and build a team around Howard, which is what they seem to want to do anyway. Kobe’s time in LA may be over if he doesn’t agree to sit for a year. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2013, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-kobe-bryants-career-finished/655626/30 "2013-04-16T23:32:27Z")
> [@Stink Fish Pot](#): > > What is it, 6-5 now? Yes. > [@](#): > > Just heard something interesting on PTI today, and I didn’t understand all of it. Maybe someone else out there did hear it and make sense out if it. But the gist was that if the Lakers and Kobe can agree that he won’t play at all next year, the Lakers can put him in a special category of player which will somehow save them around 80 million dollars. And supposedly, they are thinking hard about this option. This sounds about as likely as the Lakers using the amnesty provision on Kobe - which is to say there is negative zero chance it’ll happen, and while it make an interesting ‘should they do it/alternate universe’ discussion, there’s no point in even considering it as a likelihood. [From your description I think what you are talking about is a medical retirement: if a player retires for medical reasons, he gets whatever is coming to him in any existing contract, but his salary does not count against the salary cap at all.](http://www.sbnation.com/nba/2012/8/1/3212308/brandon-roy-retirement-blazers-timberwolves-sham) So in that situation the Lakers would pay Kobe his $30 million salary, but it wouldn’t count against the cap and that would save them a lot of money for reasons related to the luxury tax. But let’s not BS here. It’s not gonna happen. If he’s out six to nine months, he’ll be ready in January at the latest. That’s still the first half of the season and arguably saving him that wear and tear will help him anyway. He won’t agree to sit out the whole year. It makes no sense and serves no purpose, and it just ensure he’ll be older and rustier the following year. Dream on. > [@](#): > > Kobe’s time in LA may be over if he doesn’t agree to sit for a year. Dream on squared. ---
**Author:** ![crypto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b3f665/32.png) [@crypto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crypto)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2013, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-kobe-bryants-career-finished/655626/31 "2013-04-17T02:59:27Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > Yes. > > This sounds about as likely as the Lakers using the amnesty provision on Kobe - which is to say there is negative zero chance it’ll happen, and while it make an interesting ‘should they do it/alternate universe’ discussion, there’s no point in even considering it as a likelihood. [From your description I think what you are talking about is a medical retirement: if a player retires for medical reasons, he gets whatever is coming to him in any existing contract, but his salary does not count against the salary cap at all.](http://www.sbnation.com/nba/2012/8/1/3212308/brandon-roy-retirement-blazers-timberwolves-sham) So in that situation the Lakers would pay Kobe his $30 million salary, but it wouldn’t count against the cap and that would save them a lot of money for reasons related to the luxury tax. But let’s not BS here. It’s not gonna happen. If he’s out six to nine months, he’ll be ready in January at the latest. That’s still the first half of the season and arguably saving him that wear and tear will help him anyway. He won’t agree to sit out the whole year. It makes no sense and serves no purpose, and it just ensure he’ll be older and rustier the following year. Dream on. > . Thank you. It was indeed the Amnesty clause, and I had never heard of it before. You hit the nail on the head. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2013, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-kobe-bryants-career-finished/655626/32 "2013-04-17T13:52:10Z")
> [@Stink Fish Pot](#): > > Thank you. It was indeed the Amnesty clause, and I had never heard of it before. You hit the nail on the head. It’s a new temporary thing created as part of the last round of collective bargaining. The NBA’s owners said they just couldn’t stop themselves from spending too much money and wanted to get out from some bad contracts, so they got the players to agree that every team would be allowed to amnesty one contract in the first few years of this collective bargaining agreement. If a player is amnestied, the team still has to pay him but it doesn’t count against the salary cap. And other teams can sign that player for a lesser amount - but the old team had to make up the rest of the difference. But there’s no component about playing next year, which is why I didn’t think you were just talking about the amnesty thing. If they used the amnesty provision on him (which is absolutely never going to happen), the Lakers would owe Kobe about $30 million whether he plays in 2014 or not (minus whatever another team agreed to pay him if he signed somewhere else), and they would not be able to sign him back for a full year. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2013, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-kobe-bryants-career-finished/655626/33 "2013-04-17T13:59:14Z")
Just for clarification, I just watched PTI and they were specifically discussing amnesty. ---
**Author:** ![storyteller0910](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecae2f/32.png) [@storyteller0910](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/storyteller0910)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2013, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-kobe-bryants-career-finished/655626/34 "2013-04-17T14:02:13Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > But there’s no component about playing next year, which is why I didn’t think you were just talking about the amnesty thing. If they used the amnesty provision on him (which is absolutely never going to happen), the Lakers would owe Kobe about $30 million whether he plays in 2014 or not (minus whatever another team agreed to pay him if he signed somewhere else), and they would not be able to sign him back for a full year. I watched PTI. They were discussing the amnesty clause. Essentially they were saying that the Lakers should bring Kobe in and have a talk with him (Wilbon and Kornheiser suggested that the Lakers bring in Jerry West [!] and Phil Jackson [!!] to handle the discussion). They should convince Kobe to let them amnesty him right now. This would save them $30M in salary for Kobe next year, plus $50M in luxury tax. The idea is that Kobe would voluntarily choose to sit out 2013-2014 (if he’s amnestied, he couldn’t play for the Lakers during that season). The Lakers would use the saved cap space to add a max player (or two!), then (theoretically) Kobe would sign with the Lakers for 2014-2015 and join these hypothetical max players and Dwight Howard for a run or two. I think they may have then suggested creating a genetic clone of Wilt Chamberlain, growing him in a tank, and putting him alonside Kobe in this scenario, but I switched over to Louis CK on Netflix at that point so I don’t know. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2013, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-kobe-bryants-career-finished/655626/35 "2013-04-17T14:21:02Z")
And I for one welcome our new Big Dipper overlords… ---
**Author:** ![DigitalC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ebca7d/32.png) [@DigitalC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DigitalC)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2013, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-kobe-bryants-career-finished/655626/36 "2013-04-17T15:46:49Z")
> [@storyteller0910](#): > > I watched PTI. They were discussing the amnesty clause. Essentially they were saying that the Lakers should bring Kobe in and have a talk with him (Wilbon and Kornheiser suggested that the Lakers bring in Jerry West [!] and Phil Jackson [!!] to handle the discussion). They should convince Kobe to let them amnesty him right now. This would save them $30M in salary for Kobe next year, plus $50M in luxury tax. > > The idea is that Kobe would voluntarily choose to sit out 2013-2014 (if he’s amnestied, he couldn’t play for the Lakers during that season). The Lakers would use the saved cap space to add a max player (or two!), then (theoretically) Kobe would sign with the Lakers for 2014-2015 and join these hypothetical max players and Dwight Howard for a run or two. > > I think they may have then suggested creating a genetic clone of Wilt Chamberlain, growing him in a tank, and putting him alonside Kobe in this scenario, but I switched over to Louis CK on Netflix at that point so I don’t know. How could the Lakers possibly sign Kobe after signing Dwight and another max player? ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Scud](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f08c70/32.png) [@Tom\_Scud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Scud)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2013, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-kobe-bryants-career-finished/655626/37 "2013-04-17T16:03:23Z")
Presumably in this scenario he’d take some less than max salary to try and squeeze out those two extra championships. ---
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2015, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-kobe-bryants-career-finished/655626/38 "2015-11-30T20:07:21Z")
Updating this thread: \*\*With more pain and less game, Lakers’ Kobe Bryant decides he’ll retire after season \*\* > **[With more pain and less game, Lakers' Kobe Bryant decides he'll retire after...](https://www.latimes.com/sports/lakers/la-sp-kobe-bryant-retires-20151130-story.html)** > > Kobe Bryant delighted in putting himself through as much pain as possible. ---
**Author:** ![ekedolphin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ekedolphin/32/10003_2.png) [@ekedolphin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ekedolphin)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2015, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-kobe-bryants-career-finished/655626/39 "2015-11-30T23:30:19Z")
As a Pacers fan, I have a grudging respect for Kobe Bryant (whose Lakers beat us in the 2000 NBA Finals, our only Finals appearance so far). ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Scud](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f08c70/32.png) [@Tom\_Scud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Scud)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2015, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-kobe-bryants-career-finished/655626/40 "2015-12-01T00:21:51Z")
Funny to see the old posts on this threads and how absolutely no one saw the Warriors coming. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-kobe-bryants-career-finished/655626.md?page=1)