[Kobe Bryant's Twitter]
Basketball legend Kobe Bryant announced his retirement. It has been a norm for sports stars to make press conferences to announce their retirement, but Kobe was different. He said farewell to basketball career via his Twitter on Sunday.
Kobe, with 7.92 million followers, shared a link on his Twitter. His tweeted “Dear Basketball, I’m ready to let you go. I want you to know now, so we both can savor every moment we have left together.” The shared link lead to a letter written by Kobe to basketball.
The tweet currently has 47,000 likes and 63,000 shares. Fans of the famed basketball player are surprised. After playing over 20 years of basketball, the fans knew his retirement may be just around the corner, but not like this. Not at this timing and via Twitter.
Below is the letter he wrote to basketball.
Dear Basketball,
From the moment
I started rolling my dad’s tube socks
And shooting imaginary
Game-winning shots
In the Great Western Forum
I knew one thing was real:
I fell in love with you.
A love so deep I gave you my all —
From my mind & body
To my spirit & soul.
As a six-year-old boy
Deeply in love with you
I never saw the end of the tunnel.
I only saw myself
Running out of one.
And so I ran.
I ran up and down every court
After every loose ball for you.
You asked for my hustle
I gave you my heart
Because it came with so much more.
I played through the sweat and hurt
Not because challenge called me
But because YOU called me.
I did everything for YOU
Because that’s what you do
When someone makes you feel as
Alive as you’ve made me feel.
You gave a six-year-old boy his Laker dream
And I’ll always love you for it.
But I can’t love you obsessively for much longer.
This season is all I have left to give.
My heart can take the pounding
My mind can handle the grind
But my body knows it’s time to say goodbye.
And that’s OK.
I’m ready to let you go.
I want you to know now
So we both can savor every moment we have left together.
The good and the bad.
We have given each other
All that we have.
And we both know, no matter what I do next
I’ll always be that kid
With the rolled up socks
Garbage can in the corner
:05 seconds on the clock
Ball in my hands.
5 … 4 … 3 … 2 … 1
Love you always,
Kobe
아주경제 박세진 기자 = swatchsjp@ajunews.com
reporter
Park Sae-jin
swatchsjp@ajunews.com
