Kobe Bryant all set to play for Virtus Bologna – NBA Update
Italian Basketball club Virtus Bologna has confirmed it has reached a lingual agreement with Los Angeles Lakers star Kobe Bryant to play in Italy until the NBA lockout ends. The news was broken out by Virtus’s president Claudio
Sabatino on a radio program.
The egression of the NBA player to foreign leagues has been one of the most noticeable consequences of the lockout and with each passing day, this process is picking up pace. Now with Kobe Bryant all set to join the bandwagon,
the pace of the exodus will amplify to quite an extent.
According to an anonymous source, the sides have come to an agreement on a $3 million contract for the starting 40 days in the Italian league. Bryant seems pretty psyched about the deal as he spent a major part of his childhood
in Italy.
"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." Bryant told the Italian newspaper.
The contract allows Bryant to return back if NBA ends as per the escape clause. He is expected to make his foreign debut in the mid of October and with both Bologna and Kobe getting what they want in the deal, this seems to be
a win-win situation.
The popularity level and following of Bologna in particular and that of the Italian League in general, will reach a brand new level with the arrival of Kobe. On the other hand, the Los Angeles Lakers star will not only get a shot
at some professional basketball, he is also expected to earn huge amount of money.
However, not everybody is happy with Kobe’s arrival.
Daniel Hackett, the former University of Southern California player who now plays for Pesaro in Italy, is not pleased with the prospect of Bryant joining the Italian League.
According to him, Bryant might lose respect of his fans and his fellow players in NBA, as in such crucial times, he needed to stay there put his weight in the ongoing labour negotiations. Daniel hoped Bryant is not here for financial
purpose only and also added that he will be give the Lakers star a bitter welcome.
"The only way to stop a player that good is with a hard foul and he knows that," Hackett said. "I've got five fouls to commit and they're going to be the hardest five fouls I've ever committed."
However, that feeling is not shared by the Italian people, who gave a warm welcome to Kobe upon his arrival Rome. Kobe will be playing 10 games in his overall stay of 40 days and all his matches are arranged in the biggest arenas
of Italy so people can turn out in numbers to witness one of the greatest basketball star in action.
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