After two early exits in the playoffs in consecutive seasons, the end seemed to be drawing near for Kobe with the rest of the league getting younger and faster. This prompted Kobe to admit only wanting to play two more years.
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Fortunately, the Lakers’ front office began to make moves once again by bringing in Steve Nash and Dwight Howard to Los Angeles. With the additions of two more superstars to the roster, the prospect of winning one more championship or perhaps a few became a reality for Kobe, but he remained adamant about walking away from the game after playing out the last two years of his contract with the Lakers.
It appears that Kobe has had a change of heart by recently saying that he might play until he’s 40 according to TrendBasket.net:
“My aim is to play until I’m 40 years old and I believe I can do that. This year, we added very good players to our squad. Steve Nash, Dwight Howard will make us stronger. Right now, things are not going very well but I believe it’ll get better soon.”
“During the lock-out, I had offers from Turkey and other countries. Beşiktaş was interested in me and they had talks with my agent, but I want to use the lock-out time to recover from my injuries and spend more time with my family so I turned the offers down. Who knows, maybe one day I play basketball in Turkey.”
Although many people will react as though Kobe will be playing with the Lakers or at least in the NBA until 40, it seems that he’ll possibly consider playing one or two seasons in Los Angeles after the current contract ends and then head overseas.
In the past, Kobe has let it be known that he doesn’t want to stick around to only average 20 points a game. That may very well change if the Lakers are winning championships, or at least continue to be a legitimate contender.