I will not go to Oklahoma and retire my jersey there.
People were saying John Elway should retire until he won the Super Bowl.
There is nothing wrong with athletes coming back from retirement.
I was with Shaq at his home the day he retired. It was innovative for him to become the media and announce via social media that he was retiring.
For me, my Beijing jersey will be the jersey that I will retire here in China.
If you think about who retires during their prime, the number of athletes who do that is very small.
Behind all the years of practice and all the hours of glory waits that inexorable terror of living without the game.
You always see people coming back to the sport, and I've always thought, 'Gosh, when you're done playing, wouldn't you just want to stay at home?'
Obviously, everyone knows it is hard to hang it up, but I'm definitely going to try and do it the right way and not like how combat athletes have done and hold on too long for every last fleeting moment. I don't want to be one of those people.
No professional athlete likes to admit that he has played too long. There is too much money involved, rarely enough saved, and there is the eternal hope that age has not withered skills.
The lifespan of most professional athletes is relatively short, and most have no preparation for doing anything after their career ends, which it could in an instant.
