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Report: Kobe working on deal with entire Italian League to play for Virtus Bologna

NBA's Los Angeles Lakers Kobe Bryant dun

NBA’s Los Angeles Lakers Kobe Bryant dunks the ball in an exhibition game with Filipino basketball players during the Ultimate All-Star Weekend at Araneta Coliseum in Quezon City Metro Manila on July 23, 2011. The proceeds from the exibition game will help Philippine sports and develop Filipino athletes into becoming world-class competitors. AFP PHOTO/NOEL CELIS (Photo credit should read NOEL CELIS/AFP/Getty Images)

NOEL CELIS

It’s hard to buy into any talk of Kobe Bryant playing overseas after the debacle with Turkish team Besiktas. And just like with Besiktas, it’s team officials who are blabbing too much for Italian club Virtus Bologna, threatening to undermine their own chances of landing the five-time NBA champion. But according to Yahoo!, Kobe’s invested enough in this deal to not only want his money, but a system to help the entire league. Yes, that’s right. A player locked out by his own league, in part because of the humongous differential between the club he plays for and the others, wants a stronger support system for the entire league. The irony is suffocating.

Kobe Bryant is pushing forward with the negotiation of a complex agreement with Virtus Bologna that the Los Angeles Lakers star hopes will create a partnership with the teams in the struggling Italian League to share in the financial benefits of his arrival there, sources with knowledge of the talks told Yahoo! Sports.

via Kobe pushing for contract in Italy - NBA - Yahoo! Sports.

Bryant of course has a history with Italy, having spent several years there as a kid. He clearly has the interests of the entire league and not just getting his at heart. (Though he will undoubtedly get one of if not the biggest foreign basketball contract in history.) Also odd is the fact that talks are progressing at this pace with the NBA negotiations having accelerated in the past two weeks towards a resolution. Either Bryant is simply pursuing a viable backup plan, or he knows something we don’t.