Los Angeles Lakers

Report: Kobe Bryant 'being considered' for 2016 Rio Olympics team

Published Dec. 5, 2015 2:36 p.m. ET

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On April 13, 2016, Kobe Bryant's career as a member of the Los Angeles Lakers will come to an end against the Utah Jazz (barring, of course, some ridiculous chain of events that lands the Lakers in the playoffs this season). But that doesn't mean Bryant's time as a professional basketball player will come to an end next spring.

As first reported by TMZ, Bryant is in the running for one of the 12 spots in the 2016 men's basketball team for the Rio Olympics:

Bryant likely wouldn't see much time on the floor, but his Olympics experience and perspective are considered valuable by Team USA decision-makers Mike Krzyzewski and Jerry Colangelo.

TMZ Sports spoke with Team USA rep Craig Miller who tell us ... Kobe is definitely being considered for the '16 roster.

"Kobe is one of 34 players in the U.S. Men's National team pool. The 12 players who will play for Team USA are selected from that pool."

Miller says the final decision will come down to Kobe's health and the overall composition of the team ... but it seems Bryant's got a pretty good shot.

"Kobe's been involved with the national team since 2007. It's not like he has to prove himself."

In an interview with USA Today, however, Colangelo said that his criteria for a spot on the roster involve Bryant earning a spot:

Colangelo acknowledged that adding Bryant to the roster would mean potentially leaving another deserving player out, using names such as Kawhi Leonard and Paul George as examples. The managing director of USA Basketball also revealed the timeline for roster selection, saying that Team USA would let the season end before making any decisions.

“When I was approached originally about Kobe’s interest in potentially playing in the Olympics — this goes back early last summer, I guess, or spring — and the concept being that it would be great to end a career, win a gold medal and ride off into the sunset. That was just thrown my way by his agent, Rob Pelinka. I just took it in and I said, ‘Rob, I don’t rule anyone out, but it has got to be based on performance because there’s so many people who want (to be on the team) — everyone wants to be on the roster.’ So he says, ‘Well, absolutely, and that’s how Kobe feels. He wants to earn it.’ [...]

“So just recently, with his announcement of retirement, some people have come back to me (on the topic). Nothing has changed for me. Again, the same criteria exists, which is (a player’s performance) this season. So we’ll just look at this season. And I know where he has struggled, and it’s not the same…but there are some people having really outstanding years.”

Regardless of whether Bryant's career ends in April or at the Olympics, he'll undoubtedly miss the game. On Friday in Atlanta, Bryant told reporters about some of the "geeky" things he'll miss when he's done playing:

Some things Kobe Bryant said he’ll miss about the game when he walks away: pic.twitter.com/WLXMxV2ynu
— Baxter Holmes (@BaxterHolmes) December 5, 2015