--- title: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar: Dear Retirement (a.k.a. Dear Kobe) description: 'Retirement, embrace him like you did me.' canonical: https://time.com/4133199/kareem-abdul-jabbar-kobe-bryant/ author: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar article:opinion: true article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-12-03T01:01:28.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T13:03:22.324Z article:section: Ideas og:title: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar: Dear Retirement (a.k.a. Dear Kobe) og:description: "Retirement, embrace him like you did me" og:url: https://time.com/4133199/kareem-abdul-jabbar-kobe-bryant/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt734d3cead596ae00/6988738d428a9e0236cd0617/kareem-abdul-jabar.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3598 og:image:height: 2024 og:image:alt: Kareem Abdul Jabbar of the Los Angeles Lakers addresses the crowd during a game played on March 23, 1989 at Arco Arena in Sacramento, California. og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar: Dear Retirement (a.k.a. Dear Kobe) twitter:description: "Retirement, embrace him like you did me" twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt734d3cead596ae00/6988738d428a9e0236cd0617/kareem-abdul-jabar.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Kareem Abdul-Jabbar: Dear Retirement (a.k.a. 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Named editors include Richard Hall (The Brief), Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs (Inside TIME), Eliza Berman (Worth Your Time), Philip Elliott (D.C. Brief), Justin Worland (Future Proof) and Harry Booth (In the Loop). Health Matters is written by TIME's health desk. #### How do I sign up for a TIME newsletter? Go to time.com/newsletters, choose the newsletters you want and enter your email address. There is no cost and no subscription requirement.  by [Kareem Abdul-Jabbar](https://time.com/author/kareem-abdul-jabbar/)  ## Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Dec 3, 2015 1:01 AM UTC  Kareem Abdul Jabbar of the Los Angeles Lakers addresses the crowd during a game played on March 23, 1989 at Arco Arena in Sacramento, California. Kareem Abdul Jabbar of the Los Angeles Lakers addresses the crowd during a game played on March 23, 1989 at Arco Arena in Sacramento, California.Rocky Widner—NBAE/Getty Images  by [Kareem Abdul-Jabbar](https://time.com/author/kareem-abdul-jabbar/)  ## Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Dec 3, 2015 1:01 AM UTC Dear Retirement from Basketball, (for Kobe Bryant) You don’t suck, retirement. I thought You would. With no crowds to cheer. No competitors to pump addicting adrenalin every day. No satisfying sound of the ball swooshing through the net Like a melon through silk. No frown of frustration on your opponents’ faces. No salty smell of victory as exhausted bodies rush to the locker room. No purpose. I was wrong. You gave me other gifts I wasn’t expecting. That final year when each city I visited showered me with glory and gifts and pure love. The fans cheered, stomped feet, battered hands, not because I was scoring points in one last game, but because they wished me well on whatever I did next. They wanted to say thanks for the memories: the games where the father waved the foam finger with his giggling young son, the games where the family talked about thrilling plays on the car ride home, the games where kids saw players make moves that seemed physically impossible, that they would try to duplicate the next day on the playground. The humility I felt that year made me strive to be worthy of their appreciation. If no longer as a player, then as a man. You were generous, retirement. You let me discover who I was without a ball in my hand and a number on my back. I found a man with many other passions. As a player, I had dabbled in writing like a would-be singer who only sings in the shower. But you gave me precious time to find my more mature voice, and the courage to share my words with the world. Even when they didn’t cheer. Most important, you let me relearn the glorious joys of basketball as a fan. In the stands or on the couch, I am a cheering enthusiast, rooting my team to victory. You returned me to my childhood awe of just watching and loving the game. You also let me appreciate the magnificent young athletes who replaced me. Knowing I wouldn’t have to face them on the court, I didn’t have to worry about strategies, I could just marvel. Like I marveled at Kobe Bryant. Lord, that man could soar, could score, could leap from shore to shore. He brought poetry back to the game and to the hearts of the fans. The poetry of form and function, motion and mindfulness. He saw the court the way a sculptor looks at a block of marble and imagines the great art waiting to be revealed. And he revealed it game after game. Retirement, embrace him like you did me. Teach him all that you taught me about finding who I was off the court. My place in the community. My purpose. Most of all, help him realize that there is no such thing as retirement, merely passing from one room into another. A bold adventure in self-discovery where he may find a new Kobe who may surprise and delight him all over again. Highlights from 10 of the most exciting Laker Championships — a must-see for every Laker fan. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"OpinionNewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4133199/kareem-abdul-jabbar-kobe-bryant/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4133199/kareem-abdul-jabbar-kobe-bryant/"},"headline":"Kareem Abdul-Jabbar: Dear Retirement (a.k.a. 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