As Kobe Bryant's retirement becomes a finality, we should be remembering and revering what an incredible player he was over his career. Instead, we're left with the terrible fact that Kobe has been, well, terrible.
Even the most die-hard of Kobe fans can't disagree with the fact that Kobe has suffered through the worst season of his career—both individually and as a team (the Lakers have lost a franchise record 62 games).
Kobe has found it difficult creating his own shot at his advanced age, which has left him to resort to plays like this:
When he's not trying to beat centers off the dribble, he's jackin' up threes at a crazy rate. He's averaging 6.7 attempts from deep and connecting on just 28.1 percent of them—the worst mark in the league of players with 400 or more attempts this season.
(Who the hell is Robert Covington?)
If that rate holds, he'll own the worst shooting percentage all-time among players with five or more attempts per game.
Having logged over 48,000 NBA minutes, it's easier to come to grips that Father Time is just playing the best defense of his career and has Kobe at his mercy. That doesn't make it any less depressing that the last we'll see of Kobe, he was statistically the worst star in the league.
[h/t FTW]