Italian team Virtus Bologna has verbal agreement with Kobe Bryant!

[thejumpa]

Cool. If Kobe can pull $3M, I wonder what Wade, Bron, or Howard could get over there.

Definitely interested to see how he's used in the offense and how hard he plays. Should be fun to watch him play in a different system for once. I hope he gives it his all but for some reason I doubt it.

[knickswin]

Cool. If Kobe can pull $3M, I wonder what Wade, Bron, or Howard could get over there.

Definitely interested to see how he's used in the offense and how hard he plays. Should be fun to watch him play in a different system for once. I hope he gives it his all but for some reason I doubt it.

Kobe probably gets more than any of them except for maybe Lebron because he is much more popular and well-known.

[novocaine]

Kobe probably gets more than any of them except for maybe Lebron because he is much more popular and well-known.

this. most non-basketballfan europeans dont even know who lebron james is.

they maybe know kobe, shaq and dirk. thats about it. no dwight, no wade, hell not even pau gasol.

[Jasi]

Ok let's get this straight.

Sabatini (Bologna's president) is a buffoon and is trying to set up this circus just for the media attention he gets.

His plan is ridiculous, and personally I won't believe this sh!t until I see Kobe in a Bologna jersey.

1) Since he has the money to pay Kobe for 40 days only, he has asked the Italian League to drastically change the schedule and basically stuff those 40 days with Bologna games. If the Italian League really accepts this, it will speak vollumes about the miserable state of basketball in Italy.

2) In order to get the money he needs, he has also, reportedly, proposed to other presidents to share the revenues of their home games vs Bologna with him. I can't even comment on this without laughing.

3) He is filling up the media with BS about this operation being a blessing for Italian basketball... like if having an NBA superstar for 40 days will have any influence whatsoever on the whole system.

4) Not only real basketball fans, but also the players in Italy are starting to despise this operation. Look at what Daniel Hackett (who is a starter in the National team) said on facebook:

I sincerely hope that Kobe Bryant does not do this for economic and commercial reasons, for me to see him here in these circumstances would be a big disappointment. I hope that our team does not agree to give half of revenues to Virtus Bologna in order to overpay a player who does not need the money of our people. I have to spend five fouls and they will be the hardest I've ever spent if no.24 is in front of me .

[insidehoops]

Video of Kobe in Italy, speaking fluent Italian, walking around, etc.

http://www.gazzetta.it/Basket/Italia...99670414.shtml

[InspiredLebowski]

Now all the team has to do is find the money to pay him

[swi7ch]

ESPN says deal is 95% done - http://espn.go.com/los-angeles/nba/s...es-lakers-star

[swi7ch]

Video of Kobe in Italy, speaking fluent Italian, walking around, etc.

http://www.gazzetta.it/Basket/Italia...99670414.shtml

At 2:30, some old guy mentioned Jordan LOL!



EDIT: And also at 3:48!

[Jasi]

ESPN says deal is 95% done - http://espn.go.com/los-angeles/nba/s...es-lakers-star

It's not ESPN, it's the Italian guy who said it.
Too bad the missing 5% is a little detail... the money.

[Jasi]

At 2:30, some old guy mentioned Jordan LOL!



EDIT: And also at 3:48!

"some old guy" is Sandro Gamba, the most winning coach of our national team, and he mentioned MJ saying that Kobe became the best in the world after MJ came out of the league.


And the guy at 3:48 is Marco Materazzi, a football World Champion, better known worldwide for this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ddk04NXmDac

[Allstar24]

Cool. If Kobe can pull $3M, I wonder what Wade, Bron, or Howard could get over there.

LMAO...this is probably some loser who's never even been on an airplane, much less out of the country. People in Europe don't know any of those players well. Kobe will make them more money than those three players combined. There is a reason he is getting these offers and they are not...use your brain a little, if you have any.

[Doctor Rivers]

LMAO...this is probably some loser who's never even been on an airplane, much less out of the country. People in Europe don't know any of those players well. Kobe will make them more money than those three players combined. There is a reason he is getting these offers and they are not...use your brain a little, if you have any.

I wonder what Jordan would make if he were to suddenly decide to come out of retirement and play in Europe.

[Jasi]

LMAO...this is probably some loser who's never even been on an airplane, much less out of the country. People in Europe don't know any of those players well. Kobe will make them more money than those three players combined. There is a reason he is getting these offers and they are not...use your brain a little, if you have any.

True.

If Kobe's popularity in Europe is 100, Shaq's is 90, LeBron's is 60, Wade's and KG's is 40, Melo's is 30, Howard's and anyone else's is 0.
(and MJ's is 150).

(I'm speaking of non-basketball fans, of course).

[All Net]

Cool. If Kobe can pull $3M, I wonder what Wade, Bron, or Howard could get over there.

Definitely interested to see how he's used in the offense and how hard he plays. Should be fun to watch him play in a different system for once. I hope he gives it his all but for some reason I doubt it.

Kobe is a bigger name and teams can get more money out of him than they could the others

So doubt they would get more at all

[catch24]

Nice, Kobe doing it big in Italy.

LMAO...this is probably some loser who's never even been on an airplane, much less out of the country. People in Europe don't know any of those players well. Kobe will make them more money than those three players combined. There is a reason he is getting these offers and they are not...use your brain a little, if you have any.

Methinks you doth protest too much.