Kobe Bryant's rehab certainly didn't slow down the Los Angeles Lakers guard in taking part in several promo ads for soccer ahead of the 2014 World Cup. For this reason, a Washington Post columnist suggested that Team USA should name the "Black Mamba" as an honorary captain.
In this past month, the injured superstar Lakers guard appeared in different promo ads depicting the "World's Game." About a week ago, sports collectibles manufacturer Panini released an ad showing similarities in basketball and soccer. Kobe Bryant's rehab might be working as he shows no signs of discomfort while doing some basketball drills.
There's also a short film produced by Nike showing the best that soccer has to offer with the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo, Neymar Jr., David Luiz, Thibaut Courtois, Mario Götze, Eden Hazard, Wayne Rooney, Gerard Piqué, Zlatan Ibrahimović, Gonzalo Higuaín, Thiago Silva, Andrea Pirlo, Tim Howard, Andrés Iniesta and the Incredible Hulk!
The short, which also features Kobe Bryant speaking in Italian and critiquing the game, has already been watched 55 million times on YouTube.
Nike also released a teaser on Vine where Kobe Bryant magically created a soccer cleat by just spinning a basketball on his left index finger.
Marissa Payne wrote for the Post that Bryant is just a huge fan of U.S. soccer and "it's about time he get a recognized role."
"By many accounts, Bryant has more soccer ads than actual soccer players, so come on, Team USA, just add him to the roster already," wrote Marissa Payne for the Post.
Kobe Bryant's rehab news have been very scant after he was reported to have left the Lakers camp and traveled to France before the end of the 2013-2014 regular season.
The team's general manager Mitch Kupchak told Fox Sports earlier this month that the "Black Mamba" would be in Germany to seek the advice of his medical consultant for his knee injury.
