makes sense to me if he was just not enjoying playing at BYU at all. Given the turmoil of the season two years ago, I wouldn't be shocked if that were the case. Add in that his wife went to Italy on her mission as well and you have a little over romanticizing of what it would be like to go back and be a "civilian" in the mission country. Purely from a basketball standpoint, Mika's decision made no sense to me.

Bryant's situation is different though. If I had to guess he has dreams of the NBA, but he knows they aren't likely to be fulfilled. Now or if he stays another year. By staying, he risks an injury that makes it so he can't ever play professionally, even in Europe. He has already graduated. By leaving now, he probably gets a contract playing for a few hundred thousand dollars a year somewhere in Europe. Maybe even a two year deal. If he has a career ending injury, he's made bank (by just about any recent college graduate's standards) for a couple of years before having to jump back into the grind of real life. If he doesn't get hurt, he keeps pulling down six figure contracts in Europe for a few years and he's extended the number of years he can collect that paycheck by one.

IMO, it would have made sense for him to say. And it makes sense he's leaving. This one isn't as poor a reflection on the program as Mika.