Moments after one Monday morning bombshell from Chicago, another major report came down from California — the Los Angeles Lakers have agreed to a two-year contract extension with star shooting guard Kobe Bryant, keeping the Black Mamba in forum blue and gold through the end of the 2015-16 season, which would be the 20th year of his NBA career.
“This is a very happy day for Lakers fans and for the Lakers organization,” general manager Mitch Kupchak said in a team statement. “We’ve said all along that our priority and hope was to have Kobe finish his career as a Laker, and this should ensure that that happens. To play 20 years in the NBA, and to do so with the same team, is unprecedented, and quite an accomplishment. Most importantly however, it assures us that one of the best players in the world will remain a Laker, bringing us excellent play and excitement for years to come.”
The Lakers didn't release terms of the agreement, but it's looking like Bryant's getting a pretty hefty payday:
Kobe Bryants contract will make him the highest paid player in the league the next two seasons
— Ramona Shelburne (@ramonashelburne) November 25, 2013
It'll have to be very close to the top end of that range, because the New York Knicks will pay Amar'e Stoudemire $23,410,988 in 2014-15 and the Brooklyn Nets will pay Joe Johnson $24,894,863 for the 2015-16 season, meaning the deal would have to be worth at least $48,305,851 to satisfy the "highest-paid player" criteria. Sure enough, Shelburne reports that the deal will be in the $48.5 million range, with Bryant's salary just edging the New York duo in each year. Shortly after the details came out, Bryant shared his Kobe Hancock on Twitter:
Despite his prior protestations of the prospect, the extension does represent a fairly substantial pay cut for Bryant — it's a roughly 23 percent decrease from the $30,453,805 he's making this season, and about 27 percent less than the $32 million he could have made next year had he sought the maximum possible salary the Lakers could have paid him. It's still, however, an incredibly rich and obviously somewhat stunning signing, considering that Bryant's got 17 years and more than 54,000 NBA minutes on his legs ... and that, since we're speaking of legs, he's all of a week removed from being cleared to resume basketball activities after rupturing his left Achilles tendon seven months ago.
Bryant has only just reached the point where he can complete a full-speed practice and is coming back from an injury that has drastically changed the game and effectiveness of virtually every NBA player who has ever suffered it, and yet the Lakers have just rushed to pay him more than any other player in the game through the end of his age-37 season.

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Dan Devine is an editor for Ball Don't Lie on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter!
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