National Basketball Association

Randy Wittman wants Kobe to follow Michael Jordan to the Wizards

Published Mar. 28, 2016 9:44 a.m. ET

foxsports

There are nine NBA games left in Kobe Bryant's basketball career. Nine. On April 14, the 37-year-old Los Angeles Lakers legend will no longer be an active member of the very league he dominated for so long, and some people, like Washington Wizards head coach Randy Wittman, are still in denial.

After Sunday's loss to Washington, in which Bryant scored 17 points on 15 shots, Wittman wondered aloud why a player who's still relatively effective with the ball in his hands is deciding to hang it up:

This is an interesting thought. On the season, Bryant is averaging 17.1 points and shooting well below 40 percent from the floor. The Lakers are an atrocious team in part because Bryant refuses to play defense and has no filter for his shot selection.

But he still gets to his spots and can still create a decent look for himself whenever he wants. Since February 1, Bryant is averaging 20 points and shooting 34.4 percent beyond the arc, on a whopping 7.5 three-point attempts per game.

Not everybody can do this! But Bryant doesn't want his body to break down before he walks away, which is smart. Nobody wants to leave an NBA court for the last time on a stretcher. In a way, it's admirable that he wants to go out on his own terms.

Could he play another season, in another role, with a different team? Sure. Why not? Veterans like Paul Pierce, Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili, Kevin Garnett and Vince Carter have all adjusted their minutes and their responsibilities to stay as effective as possible at an older age.

Bryant doesn't want to do that, though, even though he very well could. Why wouldn't another team use him to boost their second-unit's offense for 15 minutes every night? He can still score and still help a team that's interested in winning.

The rebuilding Lakers are not that team, though. And it's highly unlikely he ever comes out of retirement to wear a different jersey — especially the same one Michael Jordan wore all those years ago.