NBA players switch teams all the time, whether via trades or free agency. That 's why when the Los Angeles Lakers (via the Charlotte Hornets) drafted a 17-year old named Kobe Bryant with the 13th overall selection in the 1996 NBA draft, few thought that just over 19 years later that he would be announcing his retirement after spending his entire career suiting up for the purple and gold.
That is just what happened however, with Bryant telling the world that the 2015-16 season would be his last in the NBA via a heartfelt poem in the Player's Tribune on Sunday afternoon.