Kobe Bryant retiring after this NBA season? LA Lakers coach Byron Scott avoids Instagram because of angry fans

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Los Angeles Lakers and Kobe Bryant fans better make the most out of the current season in watching as many games possible because they may be seeing the last of The Black Mamba on an NBA hardcourt playing competitive basketball.

The widely revered Lakers shooting guard, who is considered by many as one of the all-time greats who ever played the sport of basketball, announced that he will finally be calling it quits after this season, the Sports Illustrated reported.

"This season is all I have left to give." Bryant wrote in an essay on The Players' Tribune. "My heart can take the pounding. My mind can handle the grind. But my body knows it's time to say goodbye."

For the past three years, Bryant's participation in the league has been cut short due to major injuries, wrote NBA.com. This current 2015-2016 season, he is shooting a career-worst 32 percent while his coaches keep his playing time in check.

Meanwhile, NBA commissioner Adam Silver released a statement on Sunday with regard to the retirement announcement of one of the league veterans and crowd drawers.

"With 17 NBA All-Star selections, an NBA MVP, five NBA championships with the Lakers, two Olympic gold medals and a relentless work ethic, Kobe Bryant is one of the greatest players in the history of our game," he said.

"Whether competing in the Finals or hoisting jump shots after midnight in an empty gym, Kobe has an unconditional love for the game. I join Kobe's millions of fans around the world in congratulating him on an outstanding NBA career and thank him for so many thrilling memories."

As Bryant and the Lakers continue to struggle in the season with a conference-worst record of 2-14 and only better than the Philadelphia 76ers winless record, the brunt of the fans anger was mostly directed to coach Byron Scott.

Scott said that he was aware that there have been a lot of angry fans during one of the team's morning shootaround at the Moda Center on Nov. 28, according to a report from ESPN. The coach added that these fans were bashing him in his Instagram account, which is kept by one of his family members in his stead.

This unfavorable messages directed towards Scott has gotten worse prompting the coach to avoid checking out his account and asking his relative not to respond anymore to the comments. He admitted that he takes this kind of messages personal and he might just get into an angry dispute with those people so he decided that it is just better to ignore them altogether.