The one lockout leverage that NBA players have is the ability to play overseas. Kobe Bryant doesn’t need the money, but it is more the principle that overseas teams are willing to pay good money even for part time services.
Kobe Bryant would be the biggest name to sign a contract with an overseas team and unfortunately that could signal the lockout could bleed into the season.
Italian club Virtus Bologna said it has reached a verbal agreement with Kobe Bryant for the Los Angeles Lakers star to play in Italy during the NBA lockout.
“We have reached an economic deal,” Virtus president Claudio Sabatini told a local radio station. “There’s still some things to arrange but at this point I’m very optimistic. I would say it’s 95 percent done.”
A person with knowledge of the negotiations told The Associated Press on Friday that the sides have settled on a $3 million contract for the opening 40 days of the Italian league season.
The deal hasn’t been signed yet and with Kobe nothing is locked in until his name on the dotted line.
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