Kobe Bryant not planning to play in BIG3 league next year

NEW YORK (AP) — Kobe Bryant won’t be coming out of retirement to play in the BIG3 next year.

A spokesperson for the longtime Los Angeles Lakers star said Tuesday that Bryant isn’t playing next season in the 3-on-3 league of former NBA players.

Speculation that Bryant would play had heated up earlier in the day when league co-founder and entertainment executive Jeff Kwatinetz said during the league’s weekly conference call that he “did hear from a credible source yesterday that Kobe says he’s playing next year.”

But Molly Carter, chief marketing officer of Kobe Inc., says the NBA’s No. 3 career scorer has no plans to do so.

The BIG3 wraps up its second season with the championship game on Friday in Brooklyn’s Barclays Center.

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Written by Adam Zagoria

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Adam Zagoria is a Basketball Insider who covers basketball at all levels. A contributor to The New York Times and SportsNet New York (SNY), he is also the author of two books and is an award-winning journalist and filmmaker. His articles have appeared in ESPN The Magazine, SLAM, Sheridan Hoops, Basketball Times and in newspapers nationwide. He also won an Emmy award for his work on the SNY mini-documentary on Syracuse guard Tyus Battle. A veteran Ultimate Frisbee player, he has competed in numerous National and World Championships and, perhaps more importantly, his teams won the Westchester Summer League (WSL) championships in 2011 and 2013. He lives in Manhattan with his wife and children.