Maybe he's getting ancy. Maybe he's trying to help shake up the lockout. Maybe he simply wants to do something different' but Kobe Bryant is one step closer to playing overseas this season.
Kobe could soon be suiting up in Milan, Italy to play with Virtus Bologna, who have made multiple offers to the Los Angeles Lakers star already. Bryant took some time to discuss the offer with the Gazzetta dello Sport during a sponsor's appearance in Milan on Wednesday.
"It's very possible. It would be a dream for me," Bryant said, according to the Gazzetta. "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."
Virtus told The Associated Press that the latest offer is in the ballpark for $2.5 million for approximately 10 games over the course of 40 days from October 9 to November 16. The deal would equate to about $1.5 million after taxes and would include a clause that would allow the five time champion to return to L.A. if the NBA lockout were lifted while he was overseas.
This could be a ploy to possibly dig the proverbial spurs into the NBA lockout, trying to kick start some semblance of productive discussion between the League and the Players Association. Or, Kobe may be seeing the light, knowing that this lockout could eat up the entire season. Giving some time and playing some games in Italy wouldn't only be a great thing for the sport internationally, it would be a nice gesture from Kobe to give a little back to the country he spent a lot of his childhood:
"Italy is my home. It's where my dream of playing in the NBA started...It's a huge honor for me to return to Italy...Bryant said in fairly fluent Italian in a video posted on the Gazzetta website. "It's always been a dream for me to play in Italy. We've got to wait and see what happens.