Drew League to Meet With Kobe Bryant About Playing vs Goodman League

If a re-match does indeed take place, Drew League officials are hoping to convince Kobe Bryant to suit up as they look to avenge their loss to the Goodman League. From the LA Times: “With hopes that an earlier meeting will expedite the process in organizing an exhibition game in Los Angeles on Sept. 10 between the Drew League and Goodman League, Drew League officials plan to meet with Kobe Bryant’s representatives at an undetermined location in Los Angeles at 1 p.m. Tuesday to discuss a possible appearance. ‘I think he wants to play because he’s hungry like that,’ Drew League Commissioner Oris ‘Dino’ Smiley said of Bryant late Monday evening in a phone interview. ‘We have some real solid basketball and it’s well organized. I think he wants to be a part of it.’ … Smiley argued Bryant’s appearance won’t necessarily dictate whether the Goodman League and Drew League can organize a rematch. They are, after all, only four days removed from a competitive and controversial game where the Goodman League won, 135-134, before a standing-room only crowd at Trinity University in Washington D.C. Kevin Durant’s two free throws with 21.5 seconds left and block on James Harden as time expired led Drew League players to question the officiating on both calls. As Smiley said, ‘The way the game went left a sour taste in everyone’s mouth and they want to get them back out here.’ Should Bryant play in the proposed rematch, however, Smiley believes his name recognition and skillset would draw even more buzz than when Bryant made a surprise visit last week in a Drew League game at the Col. Leon H. Washington Park gym. There he scored 43 points, hit the game winner over Harden and led many to believe, including Smiley himself, that the numerous injuries plaguing Bryant the past few seasons are behind him.”