From Guido Guida of La Gazetta Dello Sport, regarding negotiations between Bryant and Virtus Bologna:
“Will I be coming to play in Italy? It’s likely. It would be a dream for me. There’s a chance it might happen and we’re discussing it at the moment. It’s very possible, and that’s good news for me.” The Lakers star is currently touring Italy with sponsors Nike (today he was at an event in Milan; tomorrow he will be in Rome), but he found time to be our guest at a private meeting in Sala Montanelli in Via Solferino, where he showed he’s as much a class act off the court as he is on it. He lived in Italy from the age of 5 to 14, having followed his dad here, and his Italian is still surprisingly good. He made no attempt to hide the fact that if the NBA lockout should drag on, he may well follow in his daddy’s footsteps. “Italy is my home,” he said. “It’s where I started to nurture my dream of playing in the NBA. This is where I learnt the basics, I learnt to shoot, to pass, to move without the ball – things that when I went back to the States my friends didn’t know how to do because all they thought about was jumping and slam dunking.”
If KOBE moves to Italy, We will still watch him on the special Italian channel, but we wont be able to see him close at Staple center and take pictures with him. he is one star after Jordan that I like and care for the sake of our NBA, and future kids striving to get there. I am 67 years old and have seen most of the previous players. Its a pitty for some people to show disregard for KOBE. We need to embrace our kids like him, they are our ambassadors in the world.
Dude…Great for him to continue to stay in shape, BUT if a career injury happens…thank god the Lakers get rid of that rediculous 25 million dollar per year contract for 3 more years. HELL yes go play Manba.
I would feel badly to see the Lakers lose their STAR player, but then KOBE must do what he enjoys and that is playing Basketball. Most NBA players have or should have enough money in the BANK to retire on, and there is simply too much greed on part of Players and Owners alike, on what they think or believe is FAIR for them. It’s getting to the point that the average person can not attend a sporting event, because of the extremely high cost of going in person and taking their families, just to see their teams play.
I find it hard to believe that Kobe would move permanently to Italy and give up the adulation he gets here in the US. He may play there until the strike is over but that’s it. I’ll believe it when I see it.