LOS ANGELES — The lucrative offers keep rolling in for Kobe Bryant.
And if a reported $6.7 million offer from an Italian pro team weren’t enough, perhaps Friday’s news from the NBA would entice the Los Angeles Lakers star to take the money and run.
The NBA announced that training camps for its 30 teams, which were scheduled to open Oct. 3, have been “postponed indefinitely” as a result of the lockout. In addition, the league canceled preseason games that were scheduled Oct. 9-15.
That accounts for 43 games, including two for the Nuggets and three for the Lakers. The NBA regular season is scheduled to begin Nov. 1.
“We have regretfully reached the point on the calendar where we are not able to open training camps on time and need to cancel the first week of preseason games,” deputy commissioner Adam Silver said in a statement. “We will make further decisions as warranted.”
‘s schedule page, which has a banner across the top listing the number of games on each day, was changed Friday morning to read “0 Games” for each date until Oct. 16, when there are four games. Those could be in jeopardy, too, without an agreement by the end of this month or early October.
Bryant will be in Italy next week, but the trip is for scheduled promotional appearances for Nike in Rome and Milan. The $6.7 million offer is from 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 NBA 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.
