Bryant gets contract offer from Italy

LOS ANGELES -- The lucrative offers, most of them real, keep rolling in for Kobe Bryant. He got a contract offer this week from an Italian pro team, though it was far from certain that Bryant would play there. Bryant will be in Italy next week, but the trip is for scheduled promotional appearances for Nike in Rome and Milan.

The offer is for a reported $6.7 million from Italian team Virtus Bologna, which begins its season Oct. 9 and would have to come up with a huge insurance policy to land Bryant, not to mention the actual cash to get the 13-time All-Star to play on the perennially underachieving team.

Bryant, 33, is under contract with the Lakers for three more years and $83.5 million. He has several contract options from the Italian team, according to its general manager, including a shorter per-game deal that would work out to about $740,000 a game. All options are non-binding, allowing Bryant to return to the Lakers if the NBA lockout ends.

"I think the fact that he's lived in Italy makes this appealing to him," Virtus Bologna executive Massimo Faraoni told The Associated Press. Bryant's father, Joe, played professionally in Italy from 1984 to 1991. Virtus Bologna hasn't won its league since 2001.