Kobe Bryant sounds like someone who wants to play beyond this season - if only for a few months.
Bryant declared on Monday that he hopes to be on the US team for the 2016 Rio Olympics, a tournament that could mark the end of his competitive basketball career if he retires at the conclusion of this NBA season.
"It would mean the world to me to be around those guys," said Bryant who helped the US win gold at the 2008 Beijing Games and 2012 London Games.
"I think to be able to have a chance to continue the relationship that I already have with most of those guys and understanding that this is it, it's just us being together, that would be fun."
Bryant is in his 20th season with the Lakers, and speculation has been rampant for some time whether this will be his last. He has suggested that he's leaning that way but has stopped short of making a true retirement announcement.
The notion of Bryant being on the Olympic team started in earnest in August, when USA Basketball chairman Jerry Colangelo revealed that he had spoken with the five-time NBA champion - who previously said he wouldn't play in Rio - about the potential of being on the team.
"How I feel now is that I feel like I can add value from a leadership perspective and a defensive perspective," Bryant said. "I can still move extremely well defensively."
Bryant will turn 38 two days after the gold-medal game in Rio. He has been on five different USA Basketball national teams, with those teams combining to go 36-0 in international competition.
If he is picked for Rio, he and other veterans like LeBron James, Chris Paul and Carmelo Anthony would have a chance at becoming the first U.S. men to win Olympic basketball gold three times.
"I would like to play," Bryant said. "I think it'd be awesome. A beautiful experience. I'm a global kid. I grew up in Italy, I know a lot of athletes from different parts of the world, from different sports. It'd be great to play in that environment."
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