The Los Angeles Lakers were finally able to get their first victory of the season on Friday night as they defeated the Brooklyn Nets, 104-98.
With the team on a five-game road trip, this could very well be Kobe Bryant’s final games in many of these arenas.
With Kobe’s contract up at the end of the season, some have speculated that Kobe could try to chase one more ring with another team, but Kobe shot down that notion according to Bill Oram of the Orange County Register:
Kobe: “I’m a Laker for life. I’m not playing anywhere else, no matter what. It’s just not going to happen.”
— Bill Oram (@billoram) November 7, 2015
Kobe’s former coach Phil Jackson was one of many who has said he believes Kobe could play elsewhere, but Kobe chalked that up to Jackson simply baiting the media via Mark Medina of the Los Angeles Daily News:
More Kobe on Phil suggesting he'd play somewhere else after this season: "That's Phil baiting you guys like he always does."
— Mark Medina (@MarkG_Medina) November 7, 2015
Even though Kobe has said this before, it still is good to hear him reiterate that he will only play in purple and gold. Many players have left their long-time teams for one last run, but Kobe sounds like he will stick it out with the Lakers regardless of the state of the team.
Loyalty like this isn’t seen too often in sports anymore, but it goes to show the relationship between Kobe and the Lakers. It still remains to be seen whether this is Kobe’s last season, but everyone should be able to put away the thought of Kobe suiting up anywhere but Los Angeles.