After 12 seasons in the NBA, former San Antonio Spurs big man Matt Bonner has made it official: He is retiring from the court.
The Red Mamba's retirement was not proceeded by a farewell tour like the Black Mamba's, though. Instead, Bonner released a comedic, self-deprecating video to make the announcement.
I made a video. pic.twitter.com/NQSvvCnhD5
— Matt Bonner (@MattBonner_SAS) January 6, 2017
The video shows Bonner announcing his big decision to a nearly empty auditorium and thanking the many cities and teams for which he played. It ends with him thanking fans and asking them to "remember me for what I did best," as he fakes a 3-pointer and drives to the rim for a dunk. More than half of Bonner's career attempts (1,923 of 3,768) were 3-pointers, while only 34 were successful dunks, per Basketball-Reference.com.
Bonner got his start in the NBA with the Toronto Raptors, playing for two seasons before finishing his career with the Spurs. He is one of five players to spend at least 10 consecutive seasons with Spurs. The other four? David Robinson, Tim Duncan, Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili. Not too shabby of company for the big guy.
In Bonner's final season, 2015-16, he played in just 30 games while averaging less than seven minutes per game.
His basketball days aren't entirely over, though.
According to a recent press release, Bonner will join the Spurs TV broadcast team, making his debut as a studio analyst on Jan. 10 when San Antonio hosts the Milwaukee Bucks.
-- Courtney Schellin
