This is the text of the retirement statement, reportedly written by Kobe Bryant, as posted on the website theplayerstribune.com.
From the moment
I started rolling my dad’s tube socks
And shooting imaginary
Game-winning shots
In the Great Western Forum
I knew one thing was real:
I fell in love with you.
A love so deep I gave you my all --
From my mind & body
To my spirit & soul.
As a six-year-old boy
Deeply in love with you
I never saw the end of the tunnel
I only saw myself
Running out of one.