Bryant Mulls Travel Plans in Lockout - New York Times

SINGAPORE (AP) — Kobe Bryant said Saturday that he was still considering playing overseas because a lockout of players threatens to sabotage the coming N.B.A. season.

Bryant, the star guard for the Los Angeles Lakers, said on the sideline of a youth basketball clinic that he did not know if there would be a 2011-12 season and had not ruled out playing outside the United States.

"I could," Bryant said. "I'm playing abroad right now."

Bryant said that he might join informal workouts with Lakers teammates in the future but that no such sessions have been scheduled.

In July, the Turkish club Besiktas said it was in talks with Bryant's representatives about possibly playing for the team. At least one team in China has also expressed interest in Bryant, 33, who has won five N.B.A. championships and been an All-Star 13 times.

Meanwhile, other N.B.A. players are committing to playing next season in leagues outside the United States.

The Denver Nuggets free agents Wilson Chandler and J. R. Smith plan to play in China. Denver's Ty Lawson will play in Lithuania, and the Nets All-Star Deron Williams has signed with Besiktas.

The N.B.A. season usually begins in late October, but owners and players have so far failed to agree on a new labor deal. The two sides are at loggerheads over how to divide the league's revenue, a salary-cap structure and the length of guaranteed contracts, and have made no significant progress in talks to end the lockout.