It's been a topic of conversation for years now . With so many accolades, championships and miles on his now twice -surgically- repaired legs — and a surgically repaired shoulder thrown in — when will Kobe Bryant decide to hang up his high tops and begin the long and well-deserved walk to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame? According to Los Angeles Lakers general manager Mitch Kupchak, the Mamba himself has said he expects to begin that journey after this coming season. [ Follow Dunks Don't Lie on Tumblr: The best slams from all of basketball] Kupchak shared as much during a Thursday radio interview, according to ESPN.com's Baxter Holmes : "He has indicated to me that this is it," Kupchak said Thursday in a radio appearance with SiriusXM NBA Radio. [...] "I think first and foremost, he's on the last year of a deal," Kupchak told SiriusXM NBA Radio. "There have been no discussions about anything going forward. I don't think there will be." [...] "A year from now, if there's something different to discuss, then it will be discussed then," Kupchak said of Bryant potentially playing beyond next season. "I talk to him from time to time ... and he is recovering....