NBA Insider Reveals Kobe Bryant Wanted to Finish His Career in Philadelphia: “It Would Be Nice to Play Here. In High School, It’s All I Thought About”

Kobe Bryant was one of the best players of his generation and has been an inspiration to many. He spent his entire career with the Lakers, winning 5 championships in the course of it. Due to his exploits with the Lakers, he has been associated with the city of LA. However, very few know that he was born in Philadelphia.

Bryant retired as a Laker, having spent the entire 20 years of his career with the side. There were instances when he was close to leaving the LA-based franchise, but he eventually ended up spending his career in LA. In the end, it’s all that matters. However, he was born in the city of Philadelphia.

In his younger days, as expected, he used to think of playing for the city’s franchise, Philadelphia 76ers. Despite never playing for the Sixers, the franchise and the fans always respected Kobe for his association with the city. A Philadelphia-based columnist, Mike Sielski, has recently revealed that Kobe gave a thought about playing for the Sixers.

NBA insider reveals that Kobe Bryant gave a thought about playing in Philadelphia

Philadelphia Inquirer columnist, Mike Sielski, has recently opened up on Kobe Bryant in a recent podcast. During the podcast, Mike revealed what Kobe told him when he asked about playing for the Sixers.

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“The Lakers lost to the Sixers that night in Philly. And I asked Kobe after that game if he had given any thoughts of finishing his career with his hometown team,” Mike said during the podcast.

“He told me ‘It would be nice to play here. In high school, it’s all I thought about.'”

As of now, Michael Jordan is the only player in the NBA history to have his jersey retired by two different NBA sides. Apart from Chicago Bulls, Miami Heat have also retired his number 23 jersey in 2003, to honor his contributions to the NBA. There have been rumors of Kobe giving company to Jordan on this one.

Last year, there were rumors of Philadelphia 76ers retiring his jersey. Kobe’s numbers 8 and 24 have already been retired by the Lakers and the Sixers were rumored to retire his high school number 33.

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