Why it would be best for Kobe Bryant to stay home during the lockout – NBA Update
After wasting four valuable months in slow paced talks, the brawl between the National Basketball Players Association and franchise owners has now reached the court of law and the hopes of having 2011-12 season are close to getting shattered.
Observing the latest trend in the financial dispute, several National Basketball Association players are now looking to finalize their deals with foreign teams, while others are getting anxious to secure one.
The second group of players includes several high-profile NBA players, who are looking to earn some cash during this lockout.
Los Angeles Lakers superstar Kobe Bryant is also a part of this race and has earlier been involved in talks with the Turkish basketball club Besiktas the same club, which hired New Jersey Nets point guard Deron Williams for one year.
However, these negotiations were scraped by Kobe’s support team, as they reportedly demanded high salary package from the Turkish club.
When Bryant was involved in these negotiations, several analysts had started this debate, as to whether Kobe needs to play in this work stoppage or not. With the end of the negotiations though, this debate also came to an end.
However, it seems that once again this question is about surface, as Kobe is in search of a deal to play abroad.
The key reason behind the concern is that Kobe is now 33 years old and in addition to that he has been facing some fitness issues. He recently had a plasma surgery on his knee and a European environment might not be the tonic he needs at the moment.
If Bryant gets injured while playing abroad and if by chance, the league calls off the lockout and the regular-season tips off, his non-availability wouldn’t just be a serious blow to the Lakers, but will also hit his ambitions hard.
He is presently sitting at five NBA championship rings and with only two to three years left in him, the next season might be the last chance to equal Michael Jordan’s tally. A few more seasons might also see him becoming the highest ever scorer.
Money is certainly not an issue here. Unlike other NBA players Kobe enjoys lucrative endorsements deals and is the highest paid player in the league at the moment. An indicator of his financial status came in the lime light when he offered to loan money to players if the NBA lockout persisted for the whole season.
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