Kobe Bryant received offer to play in Italy

Los Angeles Lakers guard Kobe Bryant was offered US$800,000 (S$1.01 million) to play three basketball games for Italy's Virtus Bologna until Nov. 13, as Italian clubs try to lure National Basket Association players during the lockout.



The Bologna team, which has 15 titles in the country's top basketball league, would pay Bryant a gross salary of as much as US$600,000 a game, the club said in a statement posted on their website yesterday. His net pay for three home games would be US$800,000, the team said.

Bryant has not given an answer yet.

Bryant grew up in Italy because his father Joe, a former Philadelphia 76ers forward, played in the country for seven seasons from 1984 to 1991. The Bryants lived in Reggio Emilia, a city located 75 kilometers (46 miles) north of Bologna, from 1989 to 1991 and Kobe Bryant speaks Italian fluently.

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