Kobe Bryant plans to stay physically active after retirement

Lakers Kobe Bryant drives around Rockets Jason Terry during first half action at Staples Center Sunday, January 17, 2016.   ( Photo by David Crane/Los Angeles News Group )

Lakers Kobe Bryant drives around Rockets Jason Terry during first half action at Staples Center Sunday, January 17, 2016. ( Photo by David Crane/Los Angeles News Group )

Many things have emerged on Kobe Bryant’s bucket list. After all, the Lakers’ 37-year-old star sounds aware he will have both free time and a competitive appetite to fill once his 20-year NBA career ends in three months.

So, Bryant revealed in an interview on “SiriusXM NBA Radio” on Wednesday that he plans to take up skiing, surfing and maybe even sky diving for the first time, all activities he could hardly do before considering it could compromise his health during his NBA career. But the Lakers’ 37-year-old star also suggested some things will stay the same, such as his morning workout routine.

“I’ll continue to stay in good shape,” Bryant told former Lakers teammate Rick Fox and Sirius XM NBA Radio host Jared Greenberg. “It’s important from a health perspective and also to maintain a schedule. To have a career end and you feel like it would be more fun and more free to be able to wake up and not have a schedule and things of that sort? If anything, I think that makes things more confusing. It’s important to maintain a schedule and get up and continue to train at 6 a.m and then go about my daily routine that I ordinarily would in coming into the office and work and do the things I want to do for the future.”

Bryant revealed last week that future will not entail playing in the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janiero, Brazil to pursue his third gold medal. Suspicions emerged that Bryant publicly withdrew his name from consideration amid slim changes to make the U.S. team after averaging 16.3 points on a career-low 34.6 percent shooting in the 2015-16 NBA season while nursing injuries to his right shoulder and right Achilles tendon.

But Bryant reported that Team USA coach Mike Krzyzewski and USA Basketball chairman Jerry Colangelo recently told him, ‘If you want to come down and be a part of the 30 [players], we obviously want to have you around.’ Bryant added that both Krzyzewski and Colangelo sounded “very gracious” when Bryant decided otherwise.

Bryant then repeated something he had told both reporters last week and various NBA players. He expressed his preference to play his last basketball game in the Lakers’ season-finale against the Utah Jazz at Staples Center on April 13.

“If I’m retiring, my last game is in April,” Bryant said. “It’s not, I’m going to retire now and then I’ll come back and play for the Olympics. This is the time I’m retiring and the time I’m walking away from the game. I’m ready to move on.”

After winning two gold medals in Beijing (2008) and London (2012), Bryant also sounded ready to pass the Olympic torch to the next generation of stars.

“It’s important for the young guys to get an opportunity, too,” Bryant said. “I don’t want to take up one of those spots because selfishly I want to go out by winning a gold medal. It’s important for the younger guys to play and perform and bring back to the gold for USA.”

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