It’s safe to say Los Angeles Lakers’ Kobe Bryant is financially sound. Between the millions he has
made with the Lakers and endorsement deals, it’s highly unlikely Bryant will be pulling a “Sprewell” and state he needs more money to feed his family.
So when the Italian club Virtus Bologna came calling and offered Bryant $6.7 million to play during the NBA lockout (which would amount to a few months) any reasonable person would call that a great deal.
Not Kobe.
Kobe reportedly passed on Virtus’ initial offer and countered with $15 million in order for the team to see him take his talents to Italy. That comes out to around $7.5 million a year after taxes.
So how did Virtus’ owner, Claudio Sabatini, take it? As you would expect.
The counterproposal made by Kobe and his agent shocked Claudio Sabatini who said that, with that amount of money, can offer to Kobe Bryant just a two-month deal.
If you are a Lakers fan then you are loving this. No way will Virtus pay this huge amount for a few months of work from Bryant which mean more rest for him and his knee.
Also, Bryant’s counter proposal to Bologna should be a signal to any team looking to sign him during the lockout and that signal is “Show me the money.”
In a twist, Bryant will be in Italy for a Nike promotional tour but after this $15 million request, it’s doubtful he will remain in Italy.
It’s worth mentioning that Virtus is also looking to sign Spurs’ Manu Ginobili and according to Project Spurs, Manu is not closing the door on the opportunity to return to his former team.
