New Delhi, Sept. 15 -- Taj Gibson closed a 17-year playing career on Monday and did not leave the game empty-handed. Hours after the 41-year-old announced his retirement, ESPN reported he is heading back to the Chicago Bulls as an assistant on Tiago Splitter's staff.

"Today is a very emotional day for me," Gibson wrote. "After 17 seasons in the NBA, I can honestly say I gave this game everything I had."

The Brooklyn native leaves as one of the league's most durable role players. He finished with 1,012 regular-season games, 8,431 points and 5,754 rebounds across eight franchises. Chicago and New York accounted for 737 of those appearances.

(More to follow)

Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from MINT....