Kobe Bryant again talks about finishing his career in Europe – NBA News
Kobe Bryant seems to be enjoying his time in London as he takes part in the Olympics as a member of the U.S.A Basketball team.
Bryant is playing a limited role in the team, being used sparingly as the younger core of the team takes care of most of the work. He has been seen on the bench talking to teammates and having fun in almost all of the games the
U.S team has played so far.
The Black Mamba seems to be enjoying so much that he is even considering playing in Europe after retiring from the NBA.
Bryant grew up in Italy when his father played professional basketball there. He has said on a few occasions that he would love to finish his career playing in Europe. He reiterated the same to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports
in London;
“It would be natural for me to go do it. It wouldn’t be a stretch at all. I grew up here. You’d have to look at the market and what’s going on in terms of the level of basketball being played. I understand there’s a high level
of competitive basketball in Turkey now. Spain has obviously been one of the top leagues for a long time. And Italy is a place that’s dear in my heart, I grew up there, but the level is not where it used to be,” said Bryant.
Kobe could use his international stature in the game of basketball to land a big gig in one of Europe’s leagues, but it remains to be seen what he can bring to the table. He is 34 and currently has 2 more years left on his contract
with the Los Angeles Lakers.
Provided he does not re-sign, Bryant will be 36 when he will be free from his contract. At that age, it remains to be seen what level of fitness he can sustain and what he can offer to any of the European clubs. They might just
sign him to give a boost to their basketball structure and popularity, but the prospect of Lakers letting Kobe go even at 36 seems improbable right now.
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