Just a few days after yawning our way through the NBA Finals and another San Antonio Spurs championship, the offseason’s biggest story has resurfaced. One again, Laker superstar Kobe Bryant has demanded a trade. And this time, it appears to be a decision he’s committed to. Bryant posted his wishes to play elsewhere on his website, KB24.com.
When you love something as much as I love the Lakers its hard to even imagine thinking about being elsewhere. But, the ONE THING I will never sacrifice when it comes to basketball is WINNING.
The more I thought about the future, the more I became convinced that the Lakers and me just have two different visions for the future. The Lakers are pursuing a longer-term plan that is different from what Dr. Buss shared with me at the time I re-signed as a free agent. I have seen that plan unfold for the last three years and watched great trade opportunities come and go, and have seen free agents passed on.
So…now what? Just a couple weeks ago, Bryant made a similar statement that expressed his desire to play for another team but rescinded those demands just hours later. Will this time be any different? We’ve expressed our opinion about Kobe’s gripes: They’re legitimate. What’s changed since May 28? How about failed negotiations with the Indiana Pacers over acquiring Jermaine O’Neal?
One thing that’s a certainty: We’re going to be hearing about this drama for quite a while. What play do the Lakers have left? One minute, they express how much they want Bryant to remain a Laker for life. The next minute, they’re balking at trade offers to acquire proven stars. The Lakers’ failure to commit to anything since trading Shaq has come back to haunt them.
{ 5 comments… read them below or add one }
Bryant is a cry baby pussy. He is nothing better than a gloryfied role-player. He never will and never has had the ability to be a good leader.
I am personally very sick of all of this. In fact, if the Lakers end up trading Kobe, I will not be buying any Lakers tickets next year. There is no way equal value can be had with any trade out there short of Lebron or Wade. We all know neither of those guys are moving.
I think Kobe will be gone pretty soon because he has no supporting cast at the moment, the laker organization has refused to provide him with any help from other superstars. How long can he continue to drop 50 a game and carry the lakers on his back without any other offensive production from his teammates? Lakers want kobe to stay….then get him some damn help so he doesn’t have to be dropping 50-60 points a game and still pick up the loss.
ps. Ill be a kobe fan for life no matter what team he is playing for.
I’m not looking into this any further than I need to. Theres no way the Lakers will trade him for a few reasons. First, they need to have a product on the court worthy of Staples charging the insane amount of money they do for tickets. If there’s not a superstar out there like Kobe then screw it. Second, the simple idea of trading Kobe is suicide. Why in the world would you trade the best player in the game? I don’t care what Kobe wants, he’s staying put. In my opinion this is nothing more than the same run around Man-Ram gives us every off-season and trading deadline with the Red Sox. In the end, he won’t go anywhere.