Kobe Bryant and Jeff Green showed up at the Mia Hamm & Nomar Garciaparra Celebrity Soccer Challenge on Sunday to show off their respective soccer skills. (Bryant has plenty, having grown up in Italy, while Green has never played.)
But each also gave a glimpse into the uncertainty surrounding NBA players as the lockout gets set to enter its second month.
Bryant spent the weekend in Washington to take part in soccer events with FC Barcelona and Turkish Airlines, one of his major endorsers. He converted a penalty kick at halftime of the Barcelona-Manchester United friendly at FedEx Field and presented the match-winning trophy to Manchester defender Nemanja Vidic.
But the mystery of whether he would play in Sunday’s charity match, having recently come off platelet rich-plasma treatment for his right knee — he did — was a mere second in intrigue to the question of how close Bryant might be to playing in Turkey if the lockout continues.
NBA.com’s David Aldridge and Yahoo! Sports’ Marc Spears, both in Washington, tweeted Sunday afternoon that sources close to Bryant said the chances were “zero percent.”
“I’m just waiting for my phone to ring,” Bryant said at a Turkish Airlines/FC Barcelona press conference later in the day. “I’d play anywhere. I grew up overseas, so I’m very comfortable playing overseas. I’d definitely come there [to Barcelona] and play for sure.”
Meanwhile, the speculation around Green remains centered on his lockout-stalled free agency. The Hyattsville native and Georgetown alum has been to the playoffs with both Oklahoma City and Boston, but when he comes home, the question is the same: How he would like to play for the Wizards?
“I get that quite a bit,” Green said. “But I just laugh it off. There’s really nothing I can do about that situation. When the time comes, we’ll see where I land, if it’s here, Boston or anywhere else, I’ll be happy.”
Soccer was the perfect diversion for Green, who was headed to a Kenner League game as soon as he finished.
“I’m just doing my offseason like it was a regular offseason,” he said. “It’s still July. A lot of things can happen in the next two months. You never know what’s going to happen [with the lockout]. Hopefully something does get settled, and I’ll be ready.”
