Kobe Bryant will suit up for seven more games, at most, before calling it a career. The living legend has enjoyed a farewell tour throughout the season, which is now coming to an end. His last game will be against the Utah Jazz on April 13 in front of adoring Los Angeles Lakers fans, like it should be.
Barcelona tried to get Kobe Bryant to finish his career overseas
You can’t blame Barcelona for trying to sign Kobe, but it was never going to happen.
Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports
F.C. Barcelona, however, had other plans. The European powerhouse made him an offer last summer to finish his career playing in the Euroleague, but he rejected it, according to Spanish Newspaper Mundo Deportivo.
Barcelona reportedly offered Bryant the opportunity to only play Euroleague games and sit out the domestic Spanish league. The schedule would not have been as demanding as the NBA’s and he would have received a hero’s welcome in every away game. Bryant unsurprisingly rejected the proposal, saying that he didn’t think he could physically perform at a high enough level.
Obviously, this was never going to happen. Kobe let Barcelona down easy instead of laughing and hanging up because of his affinity for the European powerhouse. He admires soccer star Lionel Messi and had even jokingly said at one point that he wanted to end his career playing in Barcelona next to Pau Gasol. That's likely the only reason why the club thought it had a shot at convincing Kobe to play professionally for any team other than the Lakers.
Barcelona has moved on and is now reportedly interested in getting Gasol to return to the club in which he started his career after he opts out of his current contract with the Chicago Bulls. Pau has said many times that he wants to retire playing for Barcelona and he's about to turn 36, but he could still sign one last big NBA contract and chase one more ring. Gasol will likely return to Spain but it's probably not going to be next season.
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