Lakers legend Kobe Bryant is likely to retire after this season, so he’s getting in all of his zingers before he parts for good.
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The Miami Heat’s re-vamped roster is still working out the kinks and now they’ll face one of the biggest names in the league.
Bryant’s decision to rest Tuesday comes as the Lakers were entering the first of 17 back-to-back sets this season, with the team visiting Orlando to play the Magic on Wednesday.
Los Angeles Lakers star Kobe Bryant has one more wish before he can finally conclude his term in the National Basketball Association, and that is to play one more time for the Olympics.
Galloway, a guard, nailed a 3-pointer from the wing with two minutes remaining for a two-point NY lead, and the Knicks never trailed again on their way to a 99-95 win on Sunday. “If I don’t, I won’t”, Bryant said.
“And I said, ‘Michael, what the hell about me led you to think I was going to approach this any differently?'” Bryant said with a laugh.
Bryant and the Lakers will head into Tuesday’s matchup with the Heat looking for their second win of the season. And then I come to practice and say, ‘Maybe I’ll take a practice off. My back’s a little tight.’ And then I start competing and then I play the whole practice. It would be hard to find a six-game stretch in the Hall of Fame career of Bryant where he shot that poorly over a six-game stretch.
“How I feel now is that I feel like I can add value from a leadership perspective and a defensive perspective”, Bryant said.
Bryant averages 5.3 rebounds, 25.3 points and 4.8 assists per game in his career. “But what I’ll always see is the guy who has dominated this game at his position for a long time, who performed at a high level for 20 years”. “Just desire. If I want to put my body through it and continue to play”.
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Bryant finished with 18 points, far off the 30.7 per game he had been averaging here and fewer than half the 40 or more he managed on three occasions during a series of highlights in the arena. Center Roy Hibbert added 18 points and nine rebounds, second-year guard Jordan Clarkson chipped in with 10 points, and forward Julius Randle grabbed 11 rebounds.
