Seriously, we don't have a lot of guys who stay in the league past their early to mid 30's anymore. I think Kobe will stay in the league for a good while still while his contemporaries have already started to decline badly. Deke is how old now? Remember Cliff Robinson? I mean, is it really that hard to work out and stay and shape if thats what you're paid to do? I wish I could get paid to work out.
I think he'll modify his game and that will help him stick around for a few years. I also think that has he gets older, with his experience, he'll still be able to beat guys, not through athleticism but through knowing what to do and when to do it. I wouldn't be surprised if he is around for another 8 years. Its interesting to think how much the NBA will change over that time though.
I can see him playing at a high level into his late 30s, like Jordan did. The key for him is just avoiding injuries. Another 12,000 career points for him wouldn't surprise me at all.
Kobe can be a star till he's 35 and a good player as long as he chooses to play. His game does not depend on athleticism nearly as much as it did earlier in his career. He is an excellent shooter which will allow him to continue to be able to score when he loses a step or two. Barring major injuries, Bryant is almost a lock to supass Jordan for the No. 3 spot in the all-time leading scorer category. If Kobe plays till he's 40, he may even have a chance to challenge Kareem as the No.1 leadeing scorer of all time.
Superstar until he's 35. Star till he's 38. Very productive role player till he's 40. He's one of the toughest players mentally and he has an unquenchable thirst and desire to be the best. The guys still doing 2 handed 360's like he's an 18 year old Rookie. Amazing.
I think you're grossly over-estimating any benefit (if there was any) that Jordan got from that time off.
Unless an injury comes along, Kobe Bryant will stay in the league as long as possible. I don't think he has any plans of quitting soon. Lets hope he never gets injured KB24 and KB8 FOREVER
I would say he has another 3-4 MVP level years in him and probably another 3-4 years role player plays!
5-6 good years. The NBA is already entering the phase of LeBron being the premiere player in the league.
Would his ego keep him in the league after falling out of top ten status? His MJ complex is probably going to have him opt for an early retirement.
I think he'll end up playing so long that the Lakers will end up retiring all 9 of Kobe's jersey numbers by the time it's over.
i've been wondering this as well. he's already lost half a step and a little explosion. obviously that still leaves him with plenty of steps and plenty of explosion, but the signs are there. stephen jackson was getting up on him in the recent warriors game and he was having a little trouble getting around him easily. and he's down to 7.3 free throw attempts per game, his lowest since the lakers first title. he's gone 10.0, 9.0, 7.3 the last 3 years. i would say FTA is kind of like blocks for big men. they start to slip when the athleticism starts to slip. however, he also has possibly the most diverse and polished offensive repertoire of all time, is smart, is competitive, keeps himself in great shape, and is still playing like an MVP even with less athleticism. assuming he doesn't have any major injuries, you'd think he could get another 3 or 4 years close to this level, and and then another 2 or 3 near all-star level. and then as others have mentioned, it'll be a matter of if he'll keep playing when he's not great. most everyone does and even jordan came back and wasn't close to his old greatness so i expect kobe will as well and you'd think kobe could knock down 12-15 ppg in his late 30's if he still wanted to.
For reference, Jordan was the leading scorer on the Wizards at age 39. I wouldn't expect Kobe to ever dip below 20 ppg.
Carl Lewis was winning Olympic gold in the long jump and competing in the 100 at age 35. Sure he lost a step, but what he still had left still left 99% of his rivals in the dust. Kobe if he stays dedicated to strength & conditioning & remains injury free has at least 3 superstar years left.
Back to you're original question then. When will we have his huge drop off? I can see a slight drop off by age 35 but even then going at this rate I can easily imagine he'll be a top 10 player at that time.
