Kobe Bryant Offered a Roster Spot by Italian Basketball Team

Kobe Bryant has already announced his plans to retire from the NBA at the end of the 2015-16 season, but that hasn't stopped Italian club Viola Reggio Calabria from hoping to add the Los Angeles Lakers star to its squad eventually.  

According to TMZ Sports, the club wrote an open letter to Bryant Dec. 4 asking him to play for the club next year:

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Dear child of Reggio Calabria, fantastic Kobe, on this most beautiful stretch of land that is full of affection for you we close our eyes and dream. ...

There will always be a home for you at this great club on the Straits of Messina. Our dream might be too big but maybe it is the same dream you unknowingly had as that 8-year-old boy in the picture.

We want you to come home, to wear our colours, to represent our city, just as your father did before you. There is a black and orange family waiting for you, with the same name on the back: "Bryant"

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While Viola's idea is far-fetched at best, Bryant does have some history with the club. His dad, Joe "Jellybean" Bryant, played for Viola in 1986-87. Complex shared a photo of Kobe as an eight-year-old wearing a Viola T-shirt:

The 37-year-old also speaks fluent Italian, so the transition to Serie A2 wouldn't be too difficult.

Still, Bryant is one of the most competitive athletes of his generation, and his desire to play at a high level made him an NBA legend. You couldn't imagine Michael Jordan playing in another country after he retired. Bryant also has no intention of doing so, telling Marc Stein of ESPN he had no plans to play abroad after his NBA career.

If Bryant is no longer confident he can perform consistently in the NBA, then he'd likely gain little satisfaction from playing in a lesser league abroad.