Kobe Bryant Reportedly Working On Deal To Play In Italy During The NBA Lockout

The only thing holding up the deal at the moment is a scheduling issue. Bologna wants to have at least five home games during Kobe’s 10-game stint, and try to book the biggest arenas they can for away matches. Such reshuffling obviously requires a lot of cooperation from smaller clubs who probably aren’t too thrilled with the move.

Bryant must have a deal signed by the end of the week to be eligible for the Serie A season opener against Roma on Sunday.

Virtus Bologna apparently was unable to get the league they play in, Lega Serie A, to drastically alter their schedule. The plan was to optimize its schedule in order to allow Bryant to play in as many games as possible during his weirdly specific contract, but the league has shot that down, according to a report from Sportando Basket.

Hopefully the lockout just ends this weekend so the will he or won’t he discussions don’t keep happening over the next few months.

Oh, it’s on now, brothers and sisters. David Stern escalated the stakes of this weekend’s NBA lockout talks by vaguely threatening to cancel the whole season if a deal isn’t reached. The players’ union and as many as 15 team owners (plus all the leadership from each side) will meet Friday in New York, and talks could bleed into the weekend. Stern is ready to make a deal, and he’s willing to flex his muscles to make sure everyone knows it.

Of course, skepticism and cynicism were the first responses to Kobe’s news: DraftExpress’ Jonathan Givony, who has tentacles throughout Europe, even cited a source who immediately said the “imminent” nature of Kobe’s Virtus deal was meant directly as a pump-fake toward owners.

Kobe Bryant has been at the center of rumors for months now, but according to a new report from Rome, he’s verbally agreed to play for Virtus Bologna in Italy during the NBA Lockout. As the Associated Press reports, the club president, Claudio Sabatini, told a local radio station, “We have reached an economic deal. There’s still some things to arrange but at this point I’m very optimistic. I would say it’s 95 percent done.”

As he continued, Sabatini said:

Bryant’s agent, Rob Pelinka, “responded” to Virtus Bologna’s offer from earlier in the week, according to a release posted on the team’s website. It’s unclear what sort of response Pelinka issued regarding the $6.7 million offer from the Italian team, but the fact that there’s a conference call planned is probably good news for the fans in Italy hoping to watch the Black Mamba ply his trade in Europe this season.

And yes, there are apparently plenty of fans in Italy hoping for Bryant to return to the country in which he spent a decent portion of his formative years -- The team has even set up an e-mail for those fans interested in helping secure Bryant’s services (translation via Google Translate).

Massimo Faraoni, the team’s general manager, told the AP that he’s been on conference calls between Bryant’s agent, Rob Pelinka, Bologna president Claudio Sabatini and main sponsor Canadian Solar, which would provide payment to Bryant.

Considering Bryant speaks French and is familiar with the country, this is probably the most realistic deal currently on the table. That doesn’t mean we are any closer to seeing the Black Mamba playing a season outside of America, but at the very least, it’s still an option worth keeping an eye on as the lockout progresses.

Kobe had previously been reported to be demanding $1 million per month to play overseas, but that might be low. Reports out of China suggest that the top NBA players could draw up to $2 million per month in the Middle Kingdom.

The Kobe Bryant to Turkey rumors have seemed dead about seven times since the NBA lockout began, but Beşiktaş -- the team that is courting him -- won’t go down without a fight. A very public fight, including letting the media know its every move, apparently.

Again.

Of course, this story will almost certainly change a couple of more times before Bryant signs with a foreign basketball team or says definitively that he’s not going anywhere, but as of today, a move to Besiktas looks unlikely.

According to NBA writer Marc Spears of Yahoo!, Bryant’s camp hasn’t spoken to Besiktas recently and probably won’t be holding serious talks any time soon. Actually, according to Spears, Bryant’s camp isn’t talking to “Besitas,” but that’s probably just a typo.

If Kobe were to reach an agreement to play overseas during the NBA lockout, which is in its 29th day, it would be seen as a major coup for the players’ union, which has encouraged its members to seek deals.

Besiktas’ season begins in late September as the team is participating in the continental Eurocup competition, the second-tier interleague competition in Europe. Besiktas also plays in the Turkish league, with that competition beginning shortly thereafter. Williams will reportedly arrive in Istanbul for training camp in late August, provided the NBA lockout hasn’t been resolved.

When that meeting takes place, Ataman seems optimistic that Bryant will see the light and sign with Besiktas.

Eternally optimistic, as has been the case with Ataman, he doesn’t even foresee issues with Bryant asking for $1 million per month after the club originally offered half of that.