Kobe Bryant said he'll never play for another NBA team


After scoring 18 points against the Brooklyn Nets in the Los Angeles Lakers' first win of the season Friday night, Kobe Bryant said he'd never play for another team.
"I've said it so many times. I'm here, I'm a Laker for life," the 17-time All Star said. "I'm not playing anywhere else, no matter what. It's just not going to happen. I bleed purple and gold, and that's just how it's going to be."
Former coach Phil Jackson, now president of the New York Knicks, had suggested otherwise in September. Bryant has not said whether he'll retire after this season, the last in his deal with the Lakers.
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Julie Kliegman is a freelance writer based in New York. Her work has appeared in BuzzFeed, Vox, Mental Floss, Paste, the Tampa Bay Times and PolitiFact. Her cats can do somersaults.
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