科比刚刚通过球员论坛 theplayerstribune.com 发表正式声明（点击查看原网页），将于本赛季结束后正式退役。
科比同时在自己的 Twitter 上公布了链接，打开网页，里面附带了一首题为《Dear Basketball/亲爱的篮球》的信，表达了此刻感受。他在里面提到 “This season is all I have left to give”，本赛季是我还能给予的全部（泪飙。。。）
完整内容如下，后面附带中文翻译版本：
Dear Basketball,
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.
And so I ran.
I ran up and down every court
After every loose ball for you.
You asked for my hustle
I gave you my heart
Because it came with so much more.
I played through the sweat and hurt
Not because challenge called me
But because YOU called me.
I did everything for YOU
Because that’s what you do
When someone makes you feel as
Alive as you’ve made me feel.
You gave a six-year-old boy his Laker dream
And I’ll always love you for it.
But I can’t love you obsessively for much longer.
This season is all I have left to give.
My heart can take the pounding
My mind can handle the grind
But my body knows it’s time to say goodbye.
And that’s OK.
I’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’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 … 4 … 3 … 2 … 1
Love you always,
Kobe
亲爱的篮球：
从我第一次穿上我父亲的筒形短袜，开始想象中自己置身于大西部论坛球馆（大西部论坛球馆原为NBA场馆之一，从1967年至1999年期间一直是洛杉矶湖人队的主场，它也是湖人队使用时间最长的主场）投进那些制胜投篮之时，我就确切明白了一件事情：
我深深爱上了你。
深爱，我为你倾其所有——从我的心、我的身体到我的精神我的灵魂。
六岁时爱上了一颗跃动的皮球，却从未见到过隧道尽头的一抹曙光，我只看见自己一直在隧道中用尽力气奔跑奔跑奔跑。
所以我一直在跑。我在场上前后来回地跑，为了你去追逐每一个地板球，你渴望我的拼抢，我就还你全部身心，因为这之间蕴含了太多的东西。
我带着伤痛打球，打到汗流浃背，不是因为“挑战”呼唤了我，是因为你呼唤了我。我做的一切都是为了你，因为你能够让一个人感受到鲜活的生命感。
你赠予了一个六岁男孩他的湖人梦，我会因此而永远爱你。但我无法再继续这样疯狂地迷恋你了，这个赛季，我已经倾其所有。我的心还能够承受住磨难，我的心态还能够处理好艰难。但我的身体已经知道，是时候说再见了。
这没事，这没事。我已经准备好让你走了，我希望你现在知道，这样一来，剩余的时间内，我们可以尽情享受每一时刻。
好的和坏的，我们已经给予了各自所有。
我们都知道，无论接下来我会做什么。
我都会是那个孩子。
穿着袜子，瞄着墙角的垃圾罐。
“还剩5秒钟！”
5 4 3 2 1
永远爱你的，
科比
