Virtus Bologna “Confident” That Bryant Will Ink Contract

As the NBA lockout drags on despite renewed talks between owners and players, more and more players are trying to find other jobs to pay the proverbial bills.  In one case, that of the Boston Celtics’ Delonte West, he’s got a new full time job:  working at Regency Furniture in Maryland.  That is, provided he doesn’t get fired for constantly Tweeting or posting pictures of what’s going on at work on Twitter.  Employers do tend to frown on that.

Other guys, who actually can play basketball in other places, are fleeing overseas to play in various leagues, be them in China, Turkey, Russia, Spain, Italy or any other number of European countries with competitive basketball.  Deron Williams is playing for Besiktas in Turkey, and Danilo Gallinari returned to his Italian League team, Olimpia Milano.  Now, Virtus Bologna says they are “confident” that Los Angeles Lakers star shooting guard Kobe Bryant will sign a deal with the team, perhaps as early as next week.

Claudio Sabbatini told the Associated Press on Friday that the team reached an agreement with Bryant’s agent, Rob Pelinka that will cover 35 to 40 days, or roughly ten games.  In exchange, Bryant will make $3 million.  Sabbatini had the following to say about Bryant and the potential deal that is in the works:

“Kobe and his agent have been very professional throughout the dealings and it’s been a pleasure to work with them.  I have a huge amount of respect for Kobe not just as a player, but also as a person.”  The biggest concern in the league’s eyes is that the financial windfall that comes from Bryant playing for Virtus Bologna is spread among all 17 clubs in the league, instead of just Virtus Bologna.  Negotiations had hit a snag when two smaller market teams (think Utah and Milwaukee for example), Cremona and Varese declined to change their schedules so Virtus could play those ten games with Bryant in the largest available venues, thus guaranteeing a maximum return on investment at the gate.

Virtus was slated to open play on October 9th against Roma, but the inclusion of Venezia as the league’s 17th team forced a rework of the league’s schedule.  They need to get the deal signed with Bryant by the end of next week in order to get him registered with the league before the season starts.  The deal does have an opt out clause that will allow Bryant to return to the Lakers immediately should the lockout end.  He still has three years and $83.5 million left on his deal with the franchise, where he has won five NBA titles.

Interesting times abound indeed.

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Posted by chris on Oct 2 2011. Filed under Basketball. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. Both comments and pings are currently closed.