It's Almost Time, Kobe

  It's been a great run for Kobe Bean Bryant in the NBA. However, just like anything else, all things, good or bad must come to an end at some point.  Bryant announced this would be his final season earlier this season in the Player Tribune in the form of a farewell poem/letter to the game he gave his all to.
  
 "I played through the sweat and hurt. Not because challenge called me. But because you called me" - Kobe Bryant

Bryant, 37, has been making this season worth it for basketball fans, even if his team isn't winning and he isn't even averaging over 20 points per game. But he's been having a lot of fun with the fans, other players and the media. Through what has been a difficult season for Bryant and the Lakers, having only won 15 games (15-59) and only having a better record than the Philadelphia 76ers (9-65), thus far, it's obvious that Bryant is content with what he's accomplished through his career and is finally accepting that it's his time to walk away from the game that he has helped to revolutionize and helped grow to the level that it is today.

Over the past three years or so, Bryant has battled injuries and between the 2013-14 & 2014-15 season he played in a total of 41 games due to injury. A lot of people wondered if he'd be able to make it through half of the 2015-16 season. To be honest, after the past two seasons ended early for Bryant, I thought that he would've hung it up before this season.

Bryant has appeared in 58 of this seasons game so far. With the Lakers having eight games left on their schedule, barring injury, Bryant is scheduled to play in every game.

Even with the Lakers being one of the more dysfunctional teams and organizations right now, there's been something special about their season. It's all been centered around Bryant. That's not necessarily a bad thing either, it's been one of the very few bright spots of their season. Quit honestly, I can't say that I've seen a player receive so much love from sports fans of every city/team, the media, and even the players from other teams since Michael Jordan in his final season with the  Washington Wizards.

Bryant is averaging 16.9 ppg, 3 ast, 3.9 rebs on a career low 35-percent-shooting.  

The next Lakers game is Wednesday, March 30 @ 10:30 vs the Miami Heat on NBATV.  Bryant's final game of his career is projected to be Wednesday, April 13 @ 10:30 vs the Utah Jazz on ESPN. Circle your calenders and set your DVRs, you don't want to miss this.

Through his career, we've seen Kobe Bean Bryant do and go through so much, he's grown as a player and a person, on and off the hardwood. From his first few years of coming off the bench, winning three titles and making the Lakers a Dynasty, again, in the early 2000s with Shaquille O'Neal, he suffered through a rough patch after Shaq's departure, nearly had his marriage and reputation fall apart, another run in the finals with Pau Gasol to capture two more titles in 2008-09 & 2009-10 (no.4 & 5) -- after losing to the Celtics in 2007-08. To me, all of this proves one thing to me. It's not only his physical abilities that made him one of kind, but it was his mentality. He could've broke down and lost his focus through the hardships, but you could make an argument that after going through those tough times made him a better player. He's one of a kind and he'll be missed by all sports fans. 19 seasons is what he gave to the sport that he loved, now he'll be able to soak it all in and reflect on an illustrious career.

Thank, Kobe. Farewell.