The future Hall of Famer addressed his potential retirement and the state of the Lakers in an interview Tuesday with Marc J. Spears of Yahoo Sports.
As far as Bryant's playing future, Lakers general manager Mitch Kupchak said in a May radio interview on SiriusXM NBA Radio (via Eric Pincus of the Los Angeles Times) that 2015-16 will likely be the star guard's final season.
"He has indicated to me that this is (his last year). There have been no discussions about anything going forward and I don't think there will be," Kupchak said.
Spears started the interview with Bryant by asking about Kupchak's comments and if he is retiring after this year: "We haven’t set anything in stone and I’ve talked about it before. But could this be the last [season]? Absolutely. It’s tough to decide. It’s really tough to make those types of decisions. Players I have spoken to say, ‘Kobe you will know.’"
Bryant added that he likes to take things down to their simplest form, in this case it will be if he still likes to play, a question he said cannot be answered until after the season is completed.
However, the 2008 NBA MVP did say at this point in his career he's not playing for money:
I don’t want to undervalue the importance of generating any type of whatever. I don’t want to make it sound like I’m underappreciative of that or not thankful for that. But at the same, what is really important? What is the important thing? I never played for money. When I laced my sneakers up when I was a kid in Italy I wasn’t thinking about money. I had no idea how much Magic [Johnson] or [Larry] Bird got paid. I played it because I loved it.
Bryant's contract, which pays him an NBA-high $25 million fo...
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Los Angeles Lakers
