On April 13 at the Staples Center against the Utah Jazz will the last game of Kobe Bryant after 20 years in the league.
Counting the number of games left the fans are getting emotional and would like to know what Kobe thinks; however, he seems to stay cool so as not to get affected:
Bryant said on Wednesday night — “I try not to do it too much, and just make yourself emotional.”
Bryant adds: “Just showing up and playing. Showing up and playing and hoping my body feels pretty damn good and I can get up and down the floor and run freely and play this game at the highest level of competition one more time.”
Bryant insists the last game wouldn’t be any different as he is going to do the same routine he has been doing for the past 20 years
“I won’t allow it to be any different,” said Bryant, 37, who is retiring after 20 NBA seasons. “One more time and go through same routine. Same group of people. One more time.”
Is this the ending that Kobe hoped and envisioned?
“Yeah, win a championship,” he said, “[but] that s— ain’t happening, so there you go. That’s done. The dream’s done. Dream’s done. For me, it’s coming out and playing in front of the fans and competing hard and playing against Utah, and them not taking it easy at all. They beat us by like 40 the last few times we played them. So I expect them to come and try to do the same thing.”
“To me, that is the greatest form of competition. That’s best last game you can have — a very competitive one, a physical one. That’s the way basketball should be. In terms of the end, I don’t know, man. I really don’t think about that that much; I just like the game itself.”
It is most likely that Kobe Bryant would break tears once the crowd stands up and chants his name, I am sure even their opponent will be there celebrating and paying respects for Kobe.
“When the time comes, you never know,” Bryant said. “[I] might be sitting here with tears flowing out of my eyes. I doubt it, but it could happen. I don’t know. We’ll see.”
During the second to the last game of the Lakers in their building, the crowd gave Kobe a standing ovation:
“This is the next-to-last game ever in this building. It’s pretty crazy,” Bryant chimed, “So I certainly can feel it. As soon as you run out at the start of the game, I could feel it.”
As Bryant adds: “I can feel it, and it feels pretty damn awesome. Going through the years of losing and not leaving [the Lakers] makes it all worthwhile standing here and taking the good with the bad and the fans embracing that and understanding that we ride together. That’s a love that you can’t break.”
