Kobe Bryant Willing to Play in Europe?

The NY Daily News claims that one of Kobe’s teammates heard him “threaten” to go play in Europe if he’s not agreement with the new Collective Bargaining Agreement. Um, okay: “According to one of Bryant’s teammates, the Lakers All-Star recently threatened, ‘I’ll play in Europe’ when they were discussing the potential of an NBA lockout this summer and the ramifications of a new CBA. ‘Kobe understands what the players before him did and he feels a responsibility to do the same to the younger guys,’ said the Lakers player, who did not want to be identified … The possibility of matching and eventually surpassing Jordan will likely keep Kobe in the NBA, but the idea of him finishing his career overseas has some players intrigued. ‘If he goes to play in Italy I will go with him,’ joked Danilo Gallinari, the Knicks’ Italian-born forward. Bryant spent part of his childhood in Italy, where his father, Joe Bryant, played professional basketball.”