Sport
Virtus Bologna optimistic of deal with Kobe, despite scheduling issues
Bologna would need to have the deal signed by the end of next week to register Bryant with the Italian league before the season starts.
Before the scheduling issues arose, Sabatini had said Bryant was expected to get a work visa and return to Italy next week.
“Kobe should be in Bologna by Wednesday or Thursday with his visa in hand for medical visits and then we can deposit the contract with the league,” Sabatini told a local radio station. “I want to make clear that right now there are still no signatures. We’ve got to write the contract, which will then be read over and over again.”
Between ages 6 and 13, Bryant lived in Italy when his father Joe Bryant played with Rieti, Reggio Calabria, Pistoia and Reggiana from 1984-91. The elder Bryant also once owned a small part of Olimpia Milano. He now coaches the Los Angeles Sparks in the WNBA.
Kobe Bryant, who still speaks Italian well, discussed his memories of his time in the country during an interview with the Gazzetta dello Sport two days ago.
“Italy is my home. It’s where my dream of playing in the NBA started. This is where I learned the fundamentals, learned to shoot, to pass and to move without the ball,” Bryant told the Italian newspaper. “All things that when I came back to America the players my age didn’t know how to do because they were only thinking about jumping and dunking.”
Bryant added that playing in Italy would be “a dream for me.”
Bryant has been bothered in recent seasons by an arthritic joint in his right knee that required several minor operations. He sat out most of the Lakers’ practices last season, and his scoring, shooting percentage and minutes decreased in his 15th NBA season.
Former USC guard Daniel Hackett, a dual citizen who plays for Pesaro in Italy, knows how he would play Bryant if he faced the former NBA MVP.
“The only way to stop a player that good is with a hard foul and he knows that,” Hackett said. “I’ve got five fouls to commit and they’re going to be the hardest five fouls I’ve ever committed.”
Hackett also criticized speculation that Bologna will ask opposing clubs hosting Bryant’s away games to chip in a portion of ticket sales to help pay Bryant’s salary.
“I really hope Kobe doesn’t lower himself to this level for economic and commercial motives,” Hackett said, according to the Gazzetta.
The NBA season is scheduled to open Nov. 1 but owners and players have failed to agree on a new labor deal. The sides are at odds over how to divide the league’s revenue, a salary cap structure and the length of guaranteed contracts. Last week, the NBA postponed training camps 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 did not qualify for this season’s Euroleague. The team has big ambitions, though, after signing former Clemson point guard Terrell McIntyre, who led Siena to four consecutive Italian titles before transferring to Malaga in Spain before last season.
Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
