Los Angeles Lakers superstar Kobe Bryant admitted that he has considered retirement after the 2014-15 NBA season after suffering from injuries over the past two years, the LA Times reported.
Bryant, who is playing in his 19th season in the league, said that he is still unsure about what he intends to do after the current season, but the 36-year-old superstar admitted that retirement has crossed his mind this year.
The 16-time NBA All-Star said that his body has been ailing like never before after suffering from a torn Achilles tendon in 2013, which was followed by a knee injury that forced him to miss the majority of the 2013-14 NBA season, where the Lakers had one of their worst seasons in franchise history.
"My body is hurting like crazy, around the clock, and if I don't want to do this anymore, I won't do it," Bryant said.
Bryant, who did not play in their 94-85 loss to the Utah Jazz on Friday, is averaging 22.6 points to go along with 5.7 assists and 5.6 rebounds per game this season, but his decent numbers are still not enough to put the Lakers into playoff contention this season.
The Lakers are currently in 14th place in the Western Conference standings with their 12-29 record - just four games ahead of the cellar-dwelling Minnesota Timberwolves (7-32).
Lakers coach Byron Scott said that he is aware of the talks about Bryant's possible retirement next summer. Scott said that he's not surprised about it, but he will not think about that possibility yet because he knows anything can still happen until the offseason.
"I'm sure it's probably crossed his mind more than once, but we haven't talked about that one bit," Scott told reporters on Sunday. "It's just game by game. That's how we're going to approach it and then go from there. I think he'll probably tackle that issue once this season is all said and done."
Bryant, who recently passed Michael Jordan for third on all-time NBA scoring list, still has one more year left in the two-year, $48.5 million contract extension he signed in 2013.
Previous reports indicated that top Lakers executives are open to offering another contract to Bryant when his contract runs out after the 2015-16 NBA season, but the decision will still be on Black Mamba's hands.
