His fifth championship ring pushed him ahead of former nemesis Shaquille O'Neal, but he still needs another piece in his jewelry collection to catch Michael Jordan. Even in the midst of the Dwight Howard debacle and Bryant's grueling rehab from a torn Achilles, the Mamba has championship thoughts racing through his mind.
Eric Pincus of the Los Angeles Times came up with a wild, but not impossible, scenario for Bryant to coast to a few more titles before he decides to walk away from the game for good.
It starts with Bryant making the ultimate financial sacrifice for the Los Angeles Lakers. After collecting the $30.4 million owed to him for next season, Pincus theorizes that Bryant could return to L.A. for a veteran's minimum deal for the 2014-15 season.
With nothing more than Steve Nash's contract ($9,701,000) and Bryant's relatively meager wages on the books, the Lakers could have more than $46 million to attack the loaded 2014 free-agent crop. L.A.'s two biggest targets for its newfound financial wiggle room, Pincus offers, would be reigning MVP LeBron James and reigning scoring champion Carmelo Anthony.
All would not be lost for Bryant in this fantasy scenario.
Since the Lakers would still hold his Bird rights, L.A. could pony up a $19.5 million max salary for the Mamba for the 2015-16 season. Pincus adds that the Lakers could even wait to re-up with Bryant until after securing another major haul from the 2015 free-agent group that could include players like Marc Gasol, Rajon Rondo, Kevin Love and LaMarcus Aldridge.
That's a potential haul greater than any fantasy owner could ever imagine pulling in a league and even challenges the limits of possibilities in the gaming world. I could man the...
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Los Angeles Lakers
