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Today the Lakers and longtime franchise player Kobe Bryant agreed to terms on a two-year contract extension that will keep the Black Mamba in LA through the 2015-2016 season.

The news broke via the team’s Twitter page that showed what looked to be a very satisfied Kobe Bryant alongside general manager Mitch Kupchak and executive vice president of basketball operations Jim Buss:

Kobe even tweeted out a picture of his signature on the dotted line:

Kupchak later posted the following on Lakers.com:

This is a very happy day for Lakers fans and for the Lakers organization. We’ve said all along that our priority and hope was to have Kobe finish his career as a Laker, and this should ensure that that happens. To play 20 years in the NBA, and to do so with the same team, is unprecedented, and quite an accomplishment. Most importantly however, it assures us that one of the best players in the world will remain a Laker, bringing us excellent play and excitement for years to come.

With the move Bryant can become the longest tenured player with one organization in the NBA. If he fulfills the remainder of the deal it will be 20 years it would mark 20 years with the Lakers and surpass John Stockton’s 19 seasons in Utah.

Aside from that though Bryant is on tap to make $30.5 million dollars this season with great concern surrounding his health. The 35-year old Bryant is currently recovering from a ruptured Achilles suffered last April and has yet to play this season for the Lakers. When he’s on the floor though he’s still an extremely dangerous player averaging 27.3 points per game in 78 regular season games last year.

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