After Kobe Bryant signed his contract extension with the Los Angeles Lakers, there was talk that the NBA icon could hang up the sneakers for good.
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It’s well within reason considering Bryant will be 40-year-old and will have played multiple extra seasons of basketball thanks to the influx of postseason games. Still, Kobe Bryant refuses to completely rule out the idea of playing beyond 40-years-old as he told Marc J. Spears of Yahoo Sports.
“Whether I do or not, we’ll have to see that two years from now,” Bryant said. “I don’t know, but I could [play longer]. Physically, I don’t see an end to the tunnel.”
It seems likely that Kobe Bryant’s future will essentially be told by how he and his health respond to the upcoming season (and next year). If he can still play at a high level and doesn’t have any physical limitations, you have to think Kobe may seriously considering playing beyond 4o-years-old given his spirit for competition. He doesn’t seem like the type who will be okay playing a background role or struggling as his body and skills demise however, so thankfully it doesn’t sound like Kobe Bryant will pull a Brett Favre on us.
What we do know is that we’ll continue to see Kobe Bryant on the court for the next two years. Beyond that is uncertain, though Kobe seems to think playing remains a possibility.
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