Los Angeles Lakers star Kobe Bryant has hit back at USA national football team manager Jurgen Klinsmann, following comments he made back in December.
German native Klinsmann told The New York Times Magazine that he disagrees with how US-based sports teams cater to once-star players, citing Bryant's $48.5m (£28.4m) two-year deal with the Lakers as an example.
At 35 years-old, Klinsmann suggested that Bryant's best days were behind him and that the franchise should have moved on from him despite the form he had given them over the years.
Bryant - who is in Brazil on vacation supporting Klinsmann's team - told ESPN: "I thought it was pretty funny. I thought it was pretty comical, actually, though I see his perspective.
"But the one perspective that he's missing from an ownership point of view is that you want to be part of an ownership group that is rewarding its players for what they've done, while balancing the team going forward. If you're another player in the future and you're looking at the Lakers organization, you want to be a part of an organisation that takes care of its players while at the same time, planning for the future.
"Jurgen is a coach, a manager. He's not a GM or owner of the franchise. When you look at it from that perspective, it changes a little bit. But he probably could have used another player as an example."
Bryant missed the majority of the 2013-14 NBA season through injury.
