One of Kobe Bryant’s conditions heading into retirement this week was immediately getting back to work the day after his final game with the Los Angeles Lakers. Bryant plans to remain busy with his basketball career now behind as he tries to build up Kobe Inc. moving forward.
Along with building up his company and trying his luck in a new career path, the future Hall of Famer is already receiving job offers to be involved in the game once again. It was rumored throughout Bryant’s final season that there would be a seat next to his former Laker teammate Shaquille O’Neal on TNT’s Inside the NBA and now it appears there could be some truth to it.
According to TMZ Sports, the show has reached out to Kobe to gauge his interest in being a part of the team that includes Kenny Smith, Charles Barkley, Ernie Johnson and Shaq:
Kenny Smith’s dream may actually come true … ’cause “Inside the NBA” has reached out to Kobe Bryant to see if he wants a job, TMZ Sports has learned.
Both Kenny and Shaq have publicly talked about wanting Kobe to join the panel on the TNT show after he retired from the NBA … and now, our sources tell us the courting has officially begun.
Throughout Bryant’s farewell tour with the Lakers, all signs pointed to him concentrating solely on Kobe Inc. the minute his playing days were over. With that being said, it’s high unlikely he’ll be a permanent member of TNT’s ‘Inside the NBA’ crew.
Although it may be a stretch that Bryant agrees to be an ongoing part of the show, the producers will try to make it happen, via TMZ:
As one well-placed source connected to the show put it … “We’d love to have Kobe.”
It’ll be interesting to see if Bryant makes an appearance on the show at some point during the NBA playoffs. The postseason got underway this weekend with TNT covering games leading up to the start of the NBA Finals on ABC on June 2.
