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" Kobe Bryant has announced that he will retire from basketball after the 2015-16 season in a poem posted on The Players&amp;#039; Tribune. In\u00A0&amp;quot;Dear Basketball,&amp;quot; Bryant writes, &amp;quot;This season is all I have left to give...But my body knows it&amp;#039;s time to say goodbye.&amp;quot; Bryant, a\u00A0five-time champion with the Los Angeles Lakers, is currently struggling through his 20th season in the NBA. While he has a career average of 25.3 points, 5.3 rebounds, and 4.8 assists per game, this season he is averaging 15.7 points per game, and a career-worst 31.5 shooting percentage. Remember this? As he ends the poem:  And that&amp;#039;s OK. I&amp;#039;m ready to let you go. I want you to know now So we both can savor every moment we have left together. The good and the bad. We have given each other All that we have.  And we both know, no matter what I do next I&amp;#039;ll always be that kid With the rolled up socks Garbage can in the corner :05 seconds on the clock Ball in my hands. 5 \u2026 4 \u2026 3 \u2026 2 \u2026 1  At the time of this posting, The Players&amp;#039; Tribune site was intermittently crashing.      Commish weighs in. pic.twitter.com/A5NlG81AyN \u2014 NBA on ESPN (@ESPNNBA) November 30, 2015    "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.esquire.com/sports/news/a40059/kobe-bryant-retirement/>