adminWASHINGTON. — Kobe Bryant says he’s not pushing to play on the US Olympic basketball team in Rio, but the retiring Los Angeles Lakers guard said on Monday it would make a “beautiful” ending to his 20-year career.
The 37-year-old American guard, a five-time NBA champion and gold medal winner at the 2008 Beijing and 2012 London Olympics, announced last month this would be his final NBA campaign after a historic career.
After battling nagging injuries for years, Bryant is fit but the Lakers are in a rebuilding mode and at 4-23 have the second-worst record in the NBA.
Missing the playoffs could leave Bryant rested and in form to become the first man in Olympic history to win three basketball gold medals, should he earn a spot on the two-time defending champion American squad.
“It’s not something I’m absolutely pressing for but being part of the Olympic experience is a beautiful thing,” Bryant said.
“It would be a beautiful thing to finish my career playing internationally. But that being said we will see how it goes.”
LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony, Chris Paul and Deron Williams would also have the chance for an unprecedented men’s Olympic hat-trick at Rio, but for Bryant it would be a golden farewell.
“I try to look at my legacy as much as how do I impact the future, not where do I rank among the best players all time,” Bryant said when asked where he fell among NBA icons.
“It’s a moot point and for me it’s pretty much of a shallow argument. It’s how do I impact the generation of players coming in by what I have done. I think it has impacted the generation coming in a big way and they will pass that along to the next generation to come.” — AFP.
Online Reporter