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Sports
Kobe Bryant To Retire After This Season
LeBron Talks Jordan's Continued Impact On Hoops
LEBRON JAMES
CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Basket- ball great Michael Jordan's impact on LeBron James the basketball player is obvious. Look no further than the No. 23 James wears across his chest during games in homage to "His Airness."
Jordan's impact on James the businessman might not be as readily apparent, but he has also been influential on "The Chosen One" in that aspect of life.
"He's done it as well as any- one can do it as far as present [playing] career and post, so you're always kind of watching," James said before the Cleve- land Cavaliers' Friday morning shootaround ahead of their game against Jordan's Char- lotte Hornets. "And it'd be great for anyone who can come in and own a ballclub, that would be pretty cool stuff, and also his brand, it continues to make an impact. So it's pretty awesome to see what he's still able to do after being away from the game for so long."
Jordan purchased the Hor- nets in February 2010, becom- ing the first former NBA player to become the principal owner of a team. Since then, other for- mer players have followed suit - - notably Shaquille O'Neal with the Sacramento Kings and Grant Hill with the Atlanta Hawks -- albeit in a minority ca- pacity.
James has already ventured into the realm of controlling a professional sports team, just not an NBA one. In 2011, his company, LRMR Branding & Marketing, teamed with Boston Red Sox owner John Henry and chairman Tom Werner to establish a partnership with Fenway Sports Group. As part of the deal, James received a mi- nority stake in Liverpool Foot- ball Club, a soccer franchise in the English Premier League that was valued by Forbes at more than $980 million in May 2015.
The Cavaliers star, who turns 31 in December, figures to have at least of handful of seasons re- maining in his playing career and did not want to entertain the question of whether he as- pires to follow in Jordan's foot- steps and own an NBA team.
"I'm not there," James said. "I'm not there right now."
BEAUTY UNLIMITED
TOMI
This week’s Beauty Unlimited feature is poised and ready to take over. Tomi can’t slow down now as she’s so close to the door of opportunity and a future she’s dreamed about her entire life. Tomi has managed to stay focused and down-to-earth during her journey, and always has time for friends and family. Congrat- ulations to Tomi as this week’s Beauty Unlimited fea- ture.
Kobe Bryant, who helped the Lakers win five NBA cham- pionships over a 20-year ca- reer spent entirely in Los Angeles, announced Sunday on The Players' Tribune web- site that he will retire after this season, writing that "this sea- son is all I have left to give."
In a first-person story titled "Dear Basketball," the 37-year- old wrote in the form of a poem that the sport "gave a six-year-old boy his Laker dream/And I'll always love you for it."
“But I can't love you obses- sively for much longer," Bryant wrote. "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."
Bryant addressed the media after Sunday's 107-103 loss to the Indiana Pacers, say- ing that he made his decision "a while" ago.
"I've known for a while," Bryant said. "A decision like this, you can't make that deci- sion based on outside circum- stances. It has to be an internal decision, and finally I've de- cided to accept that I can't ac- tually do this anymore, and I'm OK with that.
"It takes a weight off my shoulders and everybody else's."
Lakers coach Byron Scott, speaking before Sunday's game, emphasized that the star guard's "purpose is to fin- ish out this season and play."
"I think he still loves this game," Scott told reporters. "He still has a passion for it. He's still a competitive young man."
Bryant scored 13 points on 4-of-20 shooting as the Lakers dropped the 107-103 decision for their sixth consecutive loss. Scott said he was "shocked" when Bryant informed him Saturday night that he was going to announce his retire- ment the following day.
"He kind of shocked me
when he told me," Scott said. "[I'm] just sad more than any- thing. Just sad more than any- thing. Somebody who I truly care about, have a lot of re- spect for. I think it's always hard when greatness like Kobe decides to hang it up."
Kobe Bryant Called Michael Jordan This Summer To Reveal Retirement Plan
This past summer, Kobe Bryant reached out to the player to whom he has long been compared: Michael Jordan.
Bryant, the Los Angeles Lakers star, had something he wanted to tell the legendary former Chicago Bulls guard.
"This is it," Bryant said.
The 37-year-old Bryant re- counted the story Sunday when he publicly announced he would be retiring at the end of this season, his 20th in the NBA.
"[Jordan] is actually one of the first people that I told over the summer," Bryant said Sunday. "We've been in fre- quent contact."
Bryant, speaking after the Lakers' 107-103 loss to the In- diana Pacers at Staples Center, said he asked Jordan when he knew he wanted to retire.
"We had some laughs, went back and forth about it," Bryant said. "But the impor- tant thing for him, he said, 'Just enjoy it. No matter what, just enjoy it. Don't let anybody take that away from you, no matter what happens, good or bad. Enjoy it, man.'"
Seahawks TE Jimmy Graham Out For Season, Will Need Knee Surgery
JIMMY GRAHAM
KOBE BRYANT
SEATTLE -- Seahawks coach Pete Carroll said tight end Jimmy Graham is out for the season after tearing the patellar tendon in his right knee Sunday against the Steel- ers.
"We've loved Jimmy Gra- ham coming to our team and [are] very grateful that he's been part of it," Carroll said. "We're going to miss the heck out of him the rest of the sea- son. He's been a fantastic ad- dition. You saw him again today doing stuff, and he was going to have a huge day today if he was able to stay out there. So that's unfortunate."
The injury will require sur- gery, Carroll said after Seat-
tle's 39-30 victory.
Graham ran a fade route
down the right sideline against Steelers cornerback Antwon Blake early in the fourth quarter. Seahawks QB Rus- sell Wilson threw his way, but the ball was underthrown, and Graham went down awkwardly on the incomple- tion.
"It's heartbreaking," wide re- ceiver Doug Baldwin said. "One of the reasons why is be- cause Jimmy works so hard, and the type of person he is in our locker room, everybody loves him. You never want to see anybody go down, and if they do, hopefully it's not a season-ending injury.
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