还记得当年乔丹退役时的空前盛况吗？时过境迁，曾经的湖人小飞侠仅仅发了一条twitter就在瞬间引爆了全世界——科比也要和球场说再见了。在两个赛季的伤痛以及湖人队的换血之后，科比宣布将于本赛季后正式结束自己近20年的辉煌职业生涯。墨尔本文波雅思诚意奉上Kobe Bryant自撰告别信原文赏析、职业生涯回顾和NBA的官方纪念文。
科比退役告别信《亲爱的篮球》原文翻译：
（Twitter和Facebook上已有数千万粉丝点赞）
Dear Basketball,
亲爱的篮球
From the moment
I started rolling my dad’s tube socks
And shooting imaginary
Game-winning shots
In the Great Western Forum
当我第一次卷起父亲的运动筒袜
幻想自己在湖人队主场
投出那些制胜球时
I knew one thing was real:
I fell in love with you.
我就真切地明白了一件事
我已深深爱上了你
A love so deep I gave you my all —
From my mind & body
To my spirit & soul.
这份爱深到让我付出了一切
从我的思绪和身体到我的精神和灵魂
As a six-year-old boy
Deeply in love with you
I never saw the end of the tunnel.
作为一个深爱着你的六岁男孩
我从来看不见这条隧道的出口在哪儿
I only saw myself
Running out of one.
我只看见了自己冲出隧道的瞬间
And so I ran.
所以我只是不停地跑
I ran up and down every court
在每一个球场上用尽全力地来回狂奔
After every loose ball for you
You asked for my hustle
I gave you my heart
Because it came with so much more.
每一次跳球开始后
你呼唤我的拼抢
我为你用尽心力
只因为其中的意义远不止这些
I played through the sweat and hurt
Not because challenge called me
But because YOU called me.
I did everything for YOU
我在比赛中流汗，受伤
并不是因为命中的挑战召唤了我
而是因为你召唤了我
我做的一切都只是为了你而已
Because that’s what you do
When someone makes you feel as
Alive as you’ve made me feel.
因为，如果有任何人能像你一样
让我感到生命如此充满活力
我便会为之付出一切
You gave a six-year-old boy his Laker dream
And I’ll always love you for it.
你赐予了一个六岁男孩他的湖人梦
我会因此而永远爱你
But I can’t love you obsessively for much longer.
This season is all I have left to give.
但是我无法再爱的那么疯狂
这个赛季是我最后能给的了
My heart can take the pounding
My mind can handle the grind
But my body knows it’s time to say goodbye.
我的心还能为你狂跳不止
我的理智还能为你承受磨难
但我的身体知道，是时候说再见了
And that’s OK.
I’m ready to let you go.
没事的
我已经准备好放你走
I want you to know now
So we both can savor every moment we have left together.
我想要现在就告诉你
所以我们才能在剩下的时间里
一起尽情享受每一个瞬间
The good and the bad.
We have given each other
All that we have.
无论是好是坏
我们都已为彼此倾尽所有
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
我们都知道，无论接下来我会做什么
我永远都还是那个男孩
穿着卷起的运动袜
瞄准墙角的垃圾桶
数着最后五秒的倒计时
举起篮球
5 4 3 2 1
Love you always,
Kobe
永远爱你的科比
随后NBA总裁官方发表博文纪念科比：
With 17 NBA All-Star selections, an NBA MVP, five NBA championships with the Lakers, two Olympic gold medals and a relentless（坚持不懈的） work ethic, Kobe Bryant is one of the greatest players in the history of our game. Whether competing in the finals or hoisting （举起）jump shots after midnight in an empty gym, Kobe has an unconditional love（无条件的热爱） for the game. I join Kobe’s millions of fans around the world in congratulating him on an outstanding NBA career and thank him for so many thrilling memories（令人激动的回忆）.”
科比职业生涯回顾
Bryant, a surefire first-ballot Hall of Famer who is third on the NBA’s all-time scoring list, has a career-worst 31.5 shooting percentage through his first 12 games of the season on a Lakers team that has the second worst record in the league.
Bryant was drafted out of high school with the 13th overall pick in the 1996 NBA Draft by the Charlotte Hornets but was traded shortly after the Lakers for Serbian veteran Vlade Divac.
He has appeared in 17 All-Star games, was named the Most Valuable Player for the 2007-08 regular season and landed MVP honours in the 2009 and 2010 Finals when he led the Lakers to consecutive championships.
During his career, Bryant made a habit of draining game-winning shots despite being double or triple-teamed by opponents and has established a reputation for being one of the best closers in the NBA.
Bryant came into the NBA straight out of high school, won the dunk contest at All-Star weekend as a rookie, played in the All-Star game for the first time the following year and a star was fast born. The 81 points he scored against Toronto on January 22, 2006, are second only to Wilt Chamberlain’s 100-point game in NBA history, and he’s the only player to spend 20 consecutive seasons with the same team.
如果你是一个忠实的科比球迷，那么请你一定要留住以上这些传奇般的记忆。
KOBE BRYANT (USA)
Born – August 23, 1978
Age – 37
Birthplace – Philadelphia, Pennyslvania, USA
Height – 6-feet-6 (1.98m)
NBA Draft – 13th pick in 1996
Teams – Los Angeles Lakers (1996-current)
NBA Titles – 5 (2000, 2001, 2002, 2009, 2010)
NBA Most Valuable Player – 1 (2008)
NBA Finals Most Valuable Player – 2 (2009, 2010)
NBA All-Star – 17 (1998, 2000-2015)
NBA scoring champion – 2 (2006, 2007)
Olympic gold medals – 2 (2008, 2012)
