Team Sponsor Will Pick Up $6.7 M Tab If Kobe Plays In Italy

Update: Virtus Bologna president Claudio Sabatini says that Kobe's management and the Italian team have reached an agreement. "It's 95 per cent done," he told Italian media. "We just need the two signatures now. We couldn't allow it to be any longer."

A Canadian company may foot the bill for an Italian team to acquire an American player. Kobe Bryant has been offered $6.7 million to play for Italian club team Virtus Bologna, in a deal that would be funded by the team's main sponsor Canadian Solar. Bryant has said he would consider a deal if the lockout continues.

Canadian Solar, which isn't said to be an active part of the team's negotiations with Kobe's agent, earlier this week extended their sponsorship with Virtus Bologna to a third year.

The strangest part of this whole deal? It may have started with this Facebook post by one of Canadian Solar's executives on Kobe Bryant's wall earlier this month.