According to Mike Trudell of the Lakers, Kobe is not considering playing in the 2016 Olympics. Here is the tweet of his question:
Kobe on if he'll consider playing in the 2016 Olympics: "No ... Maybe I'll go watch Pau win another silver."
— Mike Trudell (@LakersReporter) January 21, 2014
The 2016 Olympics will come in the offseason after his new contract expires. Kobe is expected to walk away from the game after that season, so it makes sense that he is not considering then kicking it into high gear for the Olympics. However, somehow I can never really count Kobe out for some good competition, and a fair percentage of the games in the Olympics are against lesser competition than NBA teams.
Kobe is still the biggest basketball star in the world, despite LeBron’s success, and I am willing to bet that he will have some involvement with the USA Olympic team. Whether he is just a promotional figure or part of the coaching staff, I’m sure Kobe will not walk away from the National team that easily, as evident from his joking jab at Gasol and Spain’s inability to take down the powerhouse USA team.
EDIT: I just realized that’s Pau in the picture above. How cool is that? I mean uhh… I totally planned that.