NBA star Kobe Bryant announced he's retiring after the 2015-2016 Sunday night by writing a "Dear Basketball" poem for The Players Tribune. Following this, the five-time Los Angeles Laker champion received an overwhelming support from his fellow NBA pros, athletes and fans. But the biggest came from his wife, Vanessa Bryant.
Vanessa uploaded a photo of her husband on her Instagram, which has since been switched to private. "You can walk away knowing you've always played with everything you have, babe. I'm so proud of you. I'm proud of everything you've given to all of your fans even when you weren't feeling your best," the caption to the photo read.
"You've always pushed through it because you played for those fans that sacrificed so much to see you play in person," the message went on. "You mean so much to us all. I'm so excited to see what God has in store for us as a family now that one chapter is closing and new ones are opening. We love you!"
The Bryants married in 2001 and have two daughters, Gianna and Natalia. Their marriage was briefly rocked by a sexual assault accusation from a 19-year-old woman, but Kobe's wife stood by her husband when he denied this. "I didn't force her to do anything against her will. I'm innocent. You know. I sit here in front of you guys furious at myself. Disgusted at myself for making a mistake of adultery. I love my wife with all my heart. She's my backbone," said Bryant in his 2003 press conference.
Meanwhile, after Kobe's poem was published, sales of NBA game tickets became in demand. "Within 10 minutes of Kobe's announcement, we had thousands of inquiries and sales," said Los Angeles VIP Tickets owner Harris Rosner.
Kobe's team is set to play against Philadelphia Tuesday and tickets for this have been most coveted too. The NBA star who had a 20-year career with the Lakers is a Philadelphia native. "I think I've sold almost as many seats to this game as I sold since the day the schedule first came out," said Amazing Tickets' Mark Klang.
Some ticket prices have also been pushed up and his final game against the Utah Jazz on April 13 at the Staples Center have been going for $125 to $400. "He put on a show in a lot of these cities, and his saying this is his last allows teams and fans to say goodbye," said The Ticket Experience's Patrick Ryan.
