Los Angeles Lakers head coach Byron Scott was the first one to know that Kobe Bryant would announce his intentions to retire after the 2015-16 NBA season.
Coach Scott was surprised Bryant was ready to call it a career and was sad that the five-time NBA champion was prepared to walk away from the game.
Although he was shocked Bryant had finally come to grips with basketball career coming to an end, it was the sadness, he felt about his former teammate and the current player being prepared to retire after the season via Lakers Nation reporter Serena Winters:
Byron On Kobe retiring: "Sad. We talked about it last night, as I told him he kinda shocked me when he told me. Sad more than anything."
— Serena Winters (@SerenaWinters) November 30, 2015
Scott admitted that it is never easy to see a player of Kobe’s caliber announce their intentions to retire. Bryant’s greatness is something that may never been seen again in the NBA making it that much harder to watch him walk away from the game:
Byron Scott on Kobe Bryant retiring: "Always hard when greatness like Kobe decides to hang it up."
— Serena Winters (@SerenaWinters) November 30, 2015
Although the clock is now ticking on Bryant’s final days in the league, the show must go on with Kobe and company getting back to work tonight against the visiting Indiana Pacers.
Including Sunday’s game against the Pacers, Bryant will have 67 games left in his career with the Lakers. The squad will hit the road once again next week with eight games to be played away from Staples Center before the team returns to Los Angeles on Dec. 15 to face the Milwaukee Bucks.
Ironically enough, Bryant’s first game on the road after announcing his intention to retire at season’s end will come against the Philadelphia 76ers. It’ll be the last time Bryant will play in his hometown and the first game of his official farewell tour on the road.
