Kobe announces he will retire after season

LOS ANGELES (NBA) - Kobe Bryant has made it official. The 37-year-old Los Angeles Lakers and NBA icon has decided to call it quits at the end of the season.

He made the announcement over the weekend on the Player's Tribune website.

A five-time NBA champion, 17-time All-Star and the league's Most Valuable Player in 2008, Bryant spoke to the media after the Lakers fell 107-103 at home to Indiana on Sunday.

"I just had to accept the fact that I don't want to do this anymore, and I'm okay with that," he said.

"Once I accepted that, it became time to let everybody know.

"Why not? It takes a load off my shoulders and everybody else's.

"It was just the right thing to do."

Bryant is not interested in having a farewell-tour like season.

"No, this is still extremely uncomfortable for me," he said.

"The amount of respect that I have for the fans on the road, if anything, I should be thanking them."

If Bryant has had many more good times than bad with the Lakers in his famous career, he's enjoyed only great moments with his country's national team.

There is a possibility that Bryant's last competitive games will be with the United States.

Kobe Bryant at the London 2012 Olympics

A two-time Olympic champion, Bryant would like to be in the squad next summer in Rio de Janeiro.

"I'd be honored if that was there," he said.

"It would be fantastic to be around that group and spend kind of the last journey with them.

"That being said, it's not something that I'm obsessing over."

USA Basketball chairman and national team managing director Jerry Colangelo said earlier this month that Bryant is "entitled to an opportunity" with the USA team.

Bryant averaged 15 points per game at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing and 12.1 four years later in London.

He did not play at the 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup.

FIBA