Tuesday 1 December 2015 17:25, UK
NBA great Kobe Bryant announced his retirement on Sunday - our US sports correspondent Alex Ferguson offers his thoughts on the decision, as well as his likely legacy.
Sunday proved to be a surprising day in American sports.
First of all one of the biggest coaches in college football - Georgia's Mark Richt - was fired (or "left by mutual consent"). I didn't see that happening for another couple of years.
Then the New England Patriots lost to the Denver Broncos in overtime. I thought the Patriots would never lose again.
And then one of the players of my post-Michael Jordan era NBA generation, Kobe Bryant, announced his retirement after this season, his 20th as a member of the Los Angeles Lakers.
Bryant's decision to announce that it was all over - which he did by poem on Derek Jeter's "Player's Tribune" website - said it all.
"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 savour every moment we have left together / The good and the bad / We have given each other / All that we have."
If you are an NBA fan it is a golden age for great players, with future legends already being lined up to be "the next", ranging from Steph Curry to the always-brilliant LeBron James.
And yet in a world of Stephs, LeBrons, Hardens and Durants, there has always been one player you can probably say is bigger than the lot….and that's Kobe Bryant. That's what happens when you've had the "it" factor for nearly two decades.
But the problem for Kobe is, while the shine wasn't coming off the star, his age and bruising joints really were catching up with him.
Before this season, Kobe had played 41 games in two years, so when he returned - fit again but short of match practice - in 2015 it's small wonder it has been close to a disaster for 'No 8'.
He is scoring three out of 10 of his field goal attempts (63 in 200) and less than four out of 10 of his two-point efforts. To say he has been struggling to find his range lately is like saying that Peyton Manning has struggled to find one of his Denver Broncos receivers…an understatement!
However, Kobe Bryant is a star for a reason, and here's why.
Not many players can say that they have led teams to five NBA championships and two Olympic gold medals, own two NBA scoring titles, one NBA most valuable player award and two NBA Finals MVP Awards.
Oh, and he was elected to the NBA All-Star game a small matter of 17 times. Even when his performances were declining later on in his career, people still wanted to see him play with his fellow greats. In the process, he's scored well over 32,000 points...not too shabby.
Megastars aren't always the easiest to get on with; Michael Jordan wasn't in Chicago, and Kobe Bryant certainly wasn't in Los Angeles. It's a miracle how the Lakers survived with two of them in the locker room in Kobe and Shaquille O'Neal!
Unfortunately - after the team took home three NBA titles - good things DID come to end in 2003, with an horrific feud that led to O'Neal being traded and legendary coach Phil Jackson (who was also Jordan's coach in Chicago, by the way), leaving the team after numerous critical comment from Bryant about the style of play.
Meanwhile Bryant, the charming, smiling purple and gold ticket to the chocolate factory of accomplishments, was rewarded with a seven-year, $136m (£90m) deal.
But one thing is for certain: megastars are idols. They are the names on the jerseys, the reason that the fans flock to the arena every night, and the universally adored.
The fans might hate their performance when the team is doing badly, but the fans will give them ALL the credit if the team's finding form again. And the sad fact is that Kobe wasn't finding form…and neither were the Lakers, who were 2-13 up to his announcement (and 2-14 afterwards).
But even when they have their struggles, the megastars still have those willing to hero worship.
Indiana Pacers star Paul George told ESPN: "Kobe was my Jordan. I didn't really have many moments of watching Jordan, but Kobe was my Jordan.
"I'm not saying he's better than Jordan, but for me, growing up, that's who I idolized and looked up to. That was the standard. He was the best player, and it wasn't close."
We'll go with that, a fine sentiment Mr George.
