Sport
Kobe Bryant gets offer from Italian team
The NBA season usually begins in late October but owners and players have failed to agree on a new labor deal. The two sides are at odds over how to divide the league’s revenue, a salary cap structure and the length of guaranteed contracts.
On Friday, the NBA postponed training camp indefinitely and canceled 43 preseason games.
Virtus has won 15 Italian league titles but none since 2001, when it also won the Euroleague for the second time.
Bologna opens the Italian league against Roma on Oct. 9. It did not qualify for this season’s Euroleague, although the team has big ambitions after signing former Clemson point guard Terrell McIntyre, who led Siena to four consecutive Italian titles before transferring to Malaga in Spain for last season.
Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press
All of the offers are pretax and would allow Bryant to return to the Lakers immediately if the lockout ends. Bryant spent part of his youth in Italy while his father played in the country and he speaks Italian, prompting Bologna to hope he might return for sentimental reasons.
