Kobe Bryant to sign one-game contract in Italy?

BOLOGNA, Italy - Virtus Bologna's offer to Kobe Bryant still stands, with local media now speculating that the best solution might be a highly lucrative one-game deal for the Los Angeles Lakers star.

Bologna president Claudio Sabatini told The Associated Press last week that he had reached a tentative deal with Bryant's agent Rob Pelinka for a 10-game contract worth more than $3 million (euro2.22 million) during the NBA lockout

Italian daily La Repubblica reports that Bologna has now offered Bryant $1 million (euro750,000) to play against Benetton Treviso next week, while La Stampa says the one-game offer is $2 million (euro1.5 million).

Kobe Bryant's deal to play in Italy hits a snag

While Sabatini has not mentioned any of those figures, he did initially offer Bryant a variety of options — including a two-month deal, a one-month offer, a 10-game deal and a game-by-game offer.

Any deal would allow Bryant to return to the Lakers immediately once the lockout ends.

Bologna opens the Italian season against Roma on Sunday.

Bryant lived in Italy between ages 6 and 13 while his father played in the country. He speaks fluent Italian and has said it would be a "dream" to play in Italy (See video below in Italian).

The NBA has already canceled its entire preseason, and the first two weeks of the regular season will be wiped out if there is no labor agreement by Monday.

Bryant attended labor talks in New York on Tuesday.