Kobe Bryant extends two seasons with LA

The Los Angeles Lakers have secured the services of perennial All-Star and future Hall-of-Famer Kobe Bryant (198 cm) for the next two seasons. It has been announced that Bryant and the team have agreed to a two-year contract extension. Financial details have not been disclosed, but sources close to the situation say that the deal is worth around $48.5 million.

Thanks to this deal Bryant remains the league’s highest paid player. If the terms are correct, he stands to earn $23.5 million in 2014-15 and then $25 million in 2015-16. The 35-year-old former M.V.P. award winner is set to make a cool $30.4 million this season.

The Lakers franchise is set to enter into a rebuilding era with only Bryant and Canadian point guard Steve Nash (190 cm, Santa Clara’96) locked down with long-term deals.

Bryant’s deal is still a hefty one and allows the team to sign only one big ticket free agent come 2014. Miami’s LeBron James and New York’s Carmelo Anthony can both opt out of their current contracts and test the market for their talents.

Bryant has not played a single game yet this 2013-14 as he recovers from a ruptured Achilles tendon which he suffered in the 2012-13 season.