For all of us holding out hope that Kobe Bryant’s impending retirement was only restricted to the NBA and not professional basketball as a whole, it’s probably time to give it up.
According to a report by Spanish website Mundo Deportivo on Wednesday (via HoopsHype), Euroleague Basketball team FC Barcelona offered Bryant the opportunity to play for them last summer, an offer that Bryant ultimately declined.
With the Black Mamba still under contract with the Lakers until the completion of the 2015-16 NBA season, the offer is likely to have been for next season. It must have been at least a somewhat tempting one for Bryant who lived in Europe for several years during his childhood and speaks Spanish fluently. But the report also states that Bryant declined the offer saying that he would not physically be able to do so.
The Lakers’ season now has less than two weeks remaining, and this latest tidbit serves as another reminder that the inescapable end of one of the greatest basketball careers of all-time is just about upon us.
