With $6.7 million offered for one season with Italian team Virtus Bologna Kobe Bryant has revealed that playing for the team is “very possible” as players in the NBA continue to negotiate their contracts while fighting a league mandated lockout.
Part of Bryant’s childhood was in Italy when his father played in the European basketball league and Kobe recently told Gazzetta Dello Sport:
“It’s very possible. It would be a dream for me,” while adding, “There’s an opportunity that we’ve been discussing over the last few days. It’s very possible and that’s good news for me.”
While Bryant has been offered $6.7 million for a full season he has recently received another offer of $2.5 million for 10 days that would occur over 40 days from Oct. 9 through Nov. 16. If Kobe accepts the deal he would receive $1.5 million per game after taxes.
The contract is also generous in terms of returning to the Lakers, should the NBA lockout end before his contract runs it’s course Kobe Bryant will be free to return to his NBA team at no expense to himself.
Speaking further about his time in Italy Bryant told the Gazzetta:
“Italy is my home. It’s where my dream of playing in the NBA started. This is where I learned the fundamentals, learned to shoot, to pass and to (move) without the ball…All things that when I came back to America the players my age didn’t know how to do because they were only thinking about jumping and dunking.”
Regular play in the NBA is slated for late October however players and owners have not been able to strike a new labor deal at this time, instead choosing to fight over revenue, the salary cap structure and the available length for guaranteed contracts.
At this time training camps and 43 preseason games have already been cancelled.
The last time Virtus Bologna won a national title was 2001, the 15th such championship for the country.
Do you think Kobe Bryant would dominate on the European basketball circuit ?
