In an interview with The New York Times Magazine in December, Klinsmann questioned why a team like the Lakers would give the 35-year-old Bryant a two-year, $48.5 million extension when his best days on the basketball court are behind him.
"This always happens in America," Klinsmann, a native of Germany, said in the interview. "Kobe Bryant, for example -- why does he get a two-year contract extension for $50 million? Because of what he is going to do in the next two years for the Lakers? Of course not. Of course not. He gets it because of what he has done before. It makes no sense. Why do you pay for what has already happened?"