Bryant either couldn’t stick around to watch how the game ended or wanted to get home. Either way, Mamba out.
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Kobe Bryant ‘s jersey retirement game got off to a late start. It tipped around 7:30 p.m. in Los Angeles, and it was the culmination of what was likely a long day for Bryant. The ceremony itself didn’t end until after 9 p.m. PST, and then the Lakers and Warriors had an entire second half of hoops to play.
So if you’re Kobe Bean Bryant and you have your family with you, there is no way on earth that you want overtime. It’s been an emotionally-charged day where he had to do stuff like sit through a press conference and give a speech to the Staples Center. You cannot blame him if he wants to go to sleep.
That’s especially the case when neither Kevin Durant nor Kentavious Caldwell-Pope could break a 102-102 tie at the end of regulation. Bryant decided to do what anyone who had a full day would do in the same situation: go home.
