No, Kobe Bryant Is Not Playing in BIG3

On Tuesday reports surfaced that Kobe Bryant was planning on playing in Ice Cube’s Big3 league. The league’s co-founder, Jeff Kwatinetz claimed he had heard Bryant wanted to play next season.

BIG3 co-founder Jeff Kwatinetz's quote today about Kobe: "I did hear from a credible source yesterday that Kobe says he's playing next year." But he acknowledges that might not mean anything.
— Brian Mahoney (@briancmahoney) August 21, 2018

Ice Cube has been pushing for Kobe to join the league since its inception, so this would have been an enormous coup. While everyone got excited, it didn’t last long:

Forget that Kobe to the #BIG3 idea. Molly Carter, chief marketing officer of Kobe Inc., says he definitely is not playing next year.
— Brian Mahoney (@briancmahoney) August 21, 2018

*Sad trombone*

So I’m sorry BIG3 fans, Kobe ain’t playing. He’s also not coming back to the Los Angeles Lakers no matter what you hear. He’s retired and seems happy with that decision.

I expect to see Kobe in attendance at more than a few Lakers games this season, but as a spectator enjoying LeBron James’ first year with the team. That’s it.