NBA-Bryant and Lakers to play London pre-season game

LONDON, April 13 (Reuters) - Kobe Bryant, one of the biggest names in basketball, will play his first NBA game outside the U.S. when he leads his champion Los Angeles Lakers against the Minnesota Timberwolves in a pre-season game in London on Oct. 4.

The 6ft 6in guard, who earns over $20 million per season, has won four NBA championship titles and was last year's most valuable player in the NBA finals.

Minnesota will also play the New York Knicks in Paris on Oct. 6 as part of a four-game European pre-season tour, the NBA said in a statement on Tuesday.

The Knicks will take on Milan on Oct. 4 and the Lakers visit Barcelona three days later.

Despite Bryant's long-awaited European appearance, London's basketball fans may be disappointed that a pledge by NBA chief David Stern to bring a regular season game to the capital ahead of the 2012 London Olympics will not be honoured this year.

"It is my intention that prior to the Olympics, we will play regular season games in London ... That's my statement and I'm fully expecting to deliver on it," he said.

This will be the fifth straight year the NBA has held pre-season games in Europe and the fourth year it will play at London's O2 Arena.

"I know how passionate fans are in the UK and I look forward to putting on a show for what promises to be a great game," said Bryant.

The Lakers are one of the league's most popular and successful teams, having won 16 championship titles. This will be the Lakers' first international game since playing in Paris in 1991.

Minnesota played a sold out London pre-season game against the Boston Celtics in 2007, who went on to win the NBA championship that season.

Last October, the Chicago Bulls beat the Utah Jazz in a last-second thriller in London [ID:nL6456742].

(Reporting by Michael Szabo, editing by Justin Palmer)