Monday, Nov. 16
Peyton Manning endured the embarrassment of having his worst day ever this past Sunday as he overtook Brett Favre for most career passing yards. It is being reported the 39-year-old Manning has torn plantar fascia in his right foot, bruised ribs and an aching right shoulder.
He should immediately retire. So should 37-year-old Kobe Bryant.
Bryant suffered a huge embarrassment last Tuesday. He was scratched against Miami. When word came out that he wouldn't play the line at Pinnacle went from Lakers plus 12 to plus 11. In other words, money came on the Lakers making them a smaller underdog once bettors knew Bryant wouldn't be in the lineup.
That's probably never happened during Bryant's 20 years in the league.
On the surface, Bryant's season numbers look fine: 16.9 points per game, 3.5 assists and 4.3 rebounds. But what isn't right is Bryant's 33.6 field goal percentage. It's the third lowest of the 118 players ranked. Only rookie Emmanuel Mudiay and Joe Johnson have worst shooting percentages.
Making this especially egregious is Bryant is taking 16.4 shots per game, the 21st-most in the league.
Bryant and Manning are hurting their teams by playing. The Lakers are headed to the lottery again with a 2-8 record. Their young players need court time. Decisions need to be made on who to build a future around. Bryant slows that progress and takes valuable court time away.
In the last three years, Bryant's season has been cut short by injury. Last year, he shot 37.3 percent from the field. It's worse this season. Bryant's career shooting percentage is 45.1 percent with a 25.3 scoring average.
Bryant was recently picked as the 10th greatest player of all time by The Boston Globe. He doesn't need to hold back his team and endure humiliations like Manning is.
It's retirement time for these two all-time greats. That retirement should come right now!