Kobe Bryant’s professional career is winding down. The Los Angeles Lakers 2015-2016 season is (mercifully) coming to an end with seven more games and with that Bryant’s 20-year career will be over.
According to a report, he was given a chance to extend his professional basketball career and turned it down. Spanish sports newspaper Mundo Deportivo says that Kobe was offered a contract by European club FC Barcelona last summer that was exclusive to the team’s high-profile Euroleague games,. Bryant reportedly said thanks but no thanks.
Barcelona apparently got interested in Bryant when he reportedly mentioned that he wanted to end his career playing Pau Gasol in Spain with the team. FC Barcelona’s soccer team is Bryant’s favorite club and he’s been following them for over a decade.
Per Mundo Deportivo, Bryant was unsure if he would be able to stay healthy while playing in the long Euroleague season. Kobe didn’t comment on the report to ESPN.
Perhaps if he were healthier, Bryant would have wanted to give it a shot. He certainly could have played a major role in being an ambassador for the sport and helping draw American attention to European basketball, but it’s also a lot to ask for a guy who has been injured for the better part of the last three years.
Bryant grew up in Europe and while he may end up pursuing business interests there, it looks like he’s not going to be playing basketball there or anywhere else.
[ESPN]