Kobe Bryant Wants Last Game With Lakers, Won’t Pursue Team USA Spot

Kobe Bryant will play his last basketball game with the Lakers as he won’t got after a spot on Team USA

The Los Angeles Lakers know that Kobe Bryant is hanging them up in terms of his time in the NBA and with the organization once the team plays their season finale on April 13. There’s arguably no bigger storyline in the NBA this season than Kobe’s impending retirement.

However, one of the interesting sub-plots regarding his retirement has been centered on whether or not Bryant would go after a spot on Team USA Basketball for the 2016 Olympics. Out of respect, it was assumed that Kobe would be given a spot, but possibly at the detriment of the team by excluding a younger player for an aging Bryant.

Prior to a matchup with the Jazz on Saturday, though, Kobe put to rest any speculation about that by saying that he doesn’t plan to go after a spot on Team USA:

While it’s certainly admirable and speaks to the character of Kobe that he’s willing to give up that moment for the success of Team USA and of the younger players in the league, he did have some self-service in his motivations as he said that he wanted his last meaningful game of basketball to be in a Lakers uniform:

As if Kobe wasn’t already one of the greatest Lakers of all time, this just confirms it even further. There aren’t many players who have shown the kind of loyalty that Bryant has to the Lakers organization. Now he’s even doing so at the end of his run.

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Subsequently, April 13 in STAPLES Center against the Jazz—assuming he’s healthy—will be the last time the masses will get to see Kobe play basketball. He’s going out as a Lakers, like he should.