NBA News 2015: Kobe Bryant wants to play for US Olympic team
Los Angeles Lakers star Kobe Bryant wants to suit up for the 2016 United States Olympic basketball team.
On Monday, "The Black Mamba" expressed his desire to play for the national team in an interview with The Associated Press' Tim Reynolds for NBA.com, adding he wants the Olympic stint to be the ending of his basketball career if he does retire after the current season.
"It would mean the world to me to be around those guys," the 37-year old Bryant said. "I think to be able to have a chance to continue the relationship that I already have with most of those guys, talking and just kind of being around each other and understanding that this is it, it's just us being together, that would be fun."
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Questions about Bryant's immediate basketball future have been raised as of late. In a recent interview with Lakers' head coach Byron Scott, Bryant is said to have been contemplating retirement after the 2015-2016 NBA regular season.
"We've talked about it a few days ago," Scott said in another report by NBA.com. "Talked about it again and his feeling was, 'Coach, this might be my last year. So if possible I would like to try to play every game."'
Bryant has been playing professionally since 1996, when he was drafted 13th overall by the Los Angeles Lakers. Now on his 20th season, "The Black Mamba" did experience some setbacks, and was even critical about his performance during the team's first few games.
But as far as playing for the United States Olympic team goes, Bryant believes he already has the tools to be of great importance.
"How I feel now is that I feel like I can add value from a leadership perspective and a defensive perspective. I can still move extremely well defensively."
The 2016 Olympic will be held in Rio de Janeiro in Brazil.
