Duke Basketball Product Announces Retirement From Playing Career

Former four-year Duke basketball forward Ryan Kelly, who spent his 2009-10 freshman season in Durham as a teammate to now-Blue Devil head coach Jon Scheyer en route to helping the program capture its fourth of now-five national championships, plans to wrap up his playing career at the end of his current campaign with the Fukui Blowinds in the Japan Professional Basketball League.

The 35-year-old Kelly, a 6-foot-11, 230-pound stretch-four who arrived at Duke out of Ravenscroft School in nearby Raleigh, N.C., as part of Mike Krzyzewski & Co.'s 2009 recruiting class, announced his pre-planned retirement to his teammates this week in the following video:

This season, Kelly's second with the Blowinds following six years with the Sun Rockers Shibuya, he's averaging 16.4 points, 6.8 rebounds, and 2.6 assists while shooting 44.6 percent from the field and 36.8 percent beyond the arc. Those numbers are on par with his career averages overseas, so it's not as though he'll be ending his playing career on a low note.

Recapping Ryan Kelly's Career as a Duke Basketball Talent and Beyond

Following a Duke basketball senior campaign in which Ryan Kelly averaged 12.9 points and 5.3 rebounds to help power the 2012-13 Blue Devils to a 30-6 overall record and an appearance in the Elite Eight, he came off the board No. 48 overall to the Los Angeles Lakers at the 2013 NBA Draft.

As a Blue Devil, Kelly's most memorable effort took place in a 79-76 home win over the Miami Hurricanes after being out of commission with a foot injury for about eight weeks. In that contest, he tallied a career-high 36 points, shooting 7-for-9 from downtown, to go along with seven rebounds and two steals in his 32 minutes on the floor.

He went on to play three seasons with the Lakers, averaging 6.5 points, 3.3 boards, and 1.4 dimes in 20.4 minutes per game across his 147 regular season outings with the franchise. His time in Los Angeles included the distinction of being the last player to ever sub in for now-late NBA legend Kobe Bryant.

In 2017-18, after spending one year with the Atlanta Hawks but seeing action in only 16 games that season, Kelly embarked on a career overseas, first playing for Real Betis in Spain before heading to Japan.

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