Your thoughts on Kobe

[kcxiv]

Originally Posted by Mario Speedwagon

Man, I love Kobe if only for the reason that everyone hates him and he is just an incredible player. Like fucking amazing. He's as good at basketball as I am at jerking off. I wish him success in the future whether it be with the Lakers or not.

Yep, he has no help, outside of him and Odem, that team is horrible. Some players may have a good game every now and again, but they cannot hit a open 3 for shit. Kobe tries to make his team better, but he cant shoot the damn ball for them. There comes a time when they have to hit open shots and they just cant.

Should be a interesting offseason. Kobe was raising hell on the radio today in a interview. Its going to get very very interesting.

[Pharazon]

I don't think the Bulls really have anything the Lakers would want for Kobe. They already tried the dealing a superstar for a bunch of "good" players thing with Shaq, and we saw how it worked out. They would have to get an all-star caliber player in return and the Bulls don't really have a single guy who you could count on making an all-star team year in, year out.

I saw some talk today about the Lakers trading Kobe for Nowitski, but as a straight trade there's no way the Lakers would go for that. They saw his flaws in the playoffs, so the Mavericks would have to throw in another very good player. As disappointing as the Mavs' playoffs were, I doubt they want to tamper with the team too much.

Garnet has been in the situation Kobe is in now but for a much longer period of time. I hope the T-Wolves finally trade him this offseason. If they do, they will have to get some very talented young players in return. The Lakers are definitely one candidate if they'd be willing to give up Bynum. He has a lot of upside, but if they could grab Garnet for Bynum + whatever that might appease Kobe and give some new energy to the team.

[EmiliaEQ]

While Kobe is without any doubt a "great" player people forget its a TEAM sport.

The best example beeing MJ that despite everyone saying he is the "best player ever"
never won anything before having a good "supporting cast" and Pipen.

Dont expect anything special from Bryant unless its a few 40-50-60-80's by accident.

If you put aside the "supporting cast" problem, you probably also have a personality problem.
I dont think that Kobe is as easy to manage as people may think.

[kcxiv]

Well, now he wants out of the Lakers. I really dont blame him after all this happens. If the Lakers somehow trade Kobe. I am done with the Lakers til the Buss's sell the team, if they dont, then i will hell, i will find a new team. Fuck it.

[Jadaki]

Kobe want's out of LA

"I would like to be traded, yeah," Bryant said on 1050 ESPN Radio in New York. "Tough as it is to come to that conclusion there's no other alternative, you know?"

Bryant, interviewed by Stephen A. Smith, was asked if there was anything the Lakers could do to change his mind.

"No," Bryant said. "I just want them to do the right thing."

Asked if he had any preference for a trade destination, he said "At this point I'll go play on Pluto."

Hell, Pluto isn't even a planet anymore. It's also funny to see Shaq backing Kobe's story.

[Amahk]

I was just about to post that particular espn article for all the people that said Kobe pushed Shaq out of the Lakers. I didn't believe it then and now that Shaq has backed Kobe 100% with his side of the story, I still don't believe it now.

[Jovec]

If it wasn't for the dirt, I'd say this is just a move to force the Laker office to go after a big name player. I can't imagine how hated Buss will be if he loses both Shaq and Kobe in the span of 4 years, but Kobe seems serious. Maybe they should trade him to Denver....

Originally Posted by PatrickStar

BTW - Caron Bulter 2007 All-Star.

Yep. Averaged 15.5, 5.8, and 1.9 in 04-05 with the Lakers. But with Lamar and Butler playing the same position at small forward, along with Luke Walton, I think it was their intention to move Butler for a power forward all along. And with Lamar giving slightly better numbers, and Luke a fan favorite (not that it mattered for Shaq and Madsen) and also a good decision maker in the Jackson/Winters triangle offense, Butler was the logical choice to go.

But I agree with Kobe to some extent. Injuries aside, the Lakers just aren't getting it done. Lamar should be a 20-15 player instead of the 16-10 of this year. Kwame may never be a scoring machine but he is averaging under 6 rebounds/gm for his career? 6 rebounds from your power forward/center? He needs to be in the 12 range if he is only going to give you 8.4 points/gm. Smoosh Parker is a complete bust going for 11.3, 3, 3.3 - not enough points or not enough assists to justify his spot on the court.

So I see Kobe's side. 2 years wasted with Smoosh, who I expect will be gone this year. In his place is 2nd year Farmer who should be better, but could use a few more years to mature/improve. And they could have still had Derek Fisher, who while certainly not in the same class as Kidd, Nash, or even Parker, is a definite upgrade over Smoosh. Fisher was let go over money IIRC, and was only making ~$3 million year as the starting PG on a 3-peat team (damn, have to send Riles a check now).

Kwame's name and notoriety far surpasses his 8.4 - 6.0 averages, coupled with the fact that he's making $8.3 million per and isn't what I would call a defensive force. Another bust. Bynum should pass Kwame's numbers this year, but he's still a few years away from filling Shaq's shoes, if ever.

The Lakers wasted 3-4 seasons with Slava Medvedenko. Traded Devon George who would have been the 3rd best player on this past year's roster. Traded Mark Madsen who would literally frustrate the hell out of anyone he guarded, brought real energy, and who was always on the floor for lose balls (and got the crowd going). Their big name offseason signing went for 6.6, 3.3, and 1.2 in 19 mins this year, only playing 55 games. Brian Cook didn't seem to improve any this year. In short, this season seemed like a wasted year all around, and it's still going to take at least 2 more years of maturation given the current lineup for the Lakers to be able to get out of the first round in the west, and that still might not be enough to contend without signing a big name player.

[Akileese]

This is getting fucking serious now. It seems as though IF it happens, it's Bynum/kobe for Gordon/Wallace/Deng. Getting Kobe more than makes up for everything. It's a good trade for both sides and it'll work cap-wise. Doubt it'll happen though.

edit: ALSO now they have "Shaq going to Dallas" trade rumors AND word out of Indiana is that Jermaine O'neal would take a trade to the knicks. Ya know, because the Knicks need more overrated players with bloated contracts.

[Jovec]

Originally Posted by Amahk

I was just about to post that particular espn article for all the people that said Kobe pushed Shaq out of the Lakers. I didn't believe it then and now that Shaq has backed Kobe 100% with his side of the story, I still don't believe it now.

Here's a thing: My limited understanding of the NBA salary cap says that only one player can make "The Max", which is 35% of the cap. Shaq wanted (to keep) it with his 3 year, $80 million extension. Kobe probably didn't say "trade Shaq or else" but he could have effectively said the same thing if he was pushing for a Max contract for himself. An indirect way of saying trade Shaq by trying to sign him to a lesser extension, since Shaq probably would have requested a trade himself is the only offer he was getting from LA was a 3 year, $35-40 million offer.

[Jadaki]

Originally Posted by Akileese

edit: ALSO now they have "Shaq going to Dallas" trade rumors AND word out of Indiana is that Jermaine O'neal would take a trade to the knicks. Ya know, because the Knicks need more overrated players with bloated contracts.

Who would Dallas give up for Shaq?

J O'Neal isn't overrated, he is one of the best post players in the league. Why he wants to play for the Knicks I have no clue.

And if I'm the bulls, I don't give up those 3 players for Kobe & Bynum. I might be wrong but I think Ben Wallace has a clause to approve any trades before the Bulls can ship him anywhere.

[Sunder]

Originally Posted by Jadaki

Who would Dallas give up for Shaq?

As a Mav's fan, I would hope Dallas wouldn't give up anyone that Miami would be remotely interested in. Unlike most of the NBA world, I don't think the Mavs need a complete reconstruction of the team. Get them an true point-guard and I think they'll be fine. If that means having to move Terry or Harris or both out of town, then so be it.

[Twobit Whore]

I'd be interested to see a Bryant/Thomas pairing.

[Jovec]

Originally Posted by Jadaki

I think Ben Wallace has a clause to approve any trades before the Bulls can ship him anywhere.

Kobe is the only one in the league with a no-trade. You have to be an 7 or 8 year vet with 4 years on your current team to get a no-trade clause, and even then it's not a guarantee, but rather potential contract option.

[kcxiv]

KB24.com | Kobe Bryant | The Official Site Of Kobe Bryant

He somewhat changed his tune after talkign with Phil Jackson. Listen to the Dan Patrick interview. He doesnt really wanna go, but shit needs to be aired out. lol
He was just pissed off and still is


Anyways, the above link is all the interviews he has done on his site.

[Pharazon]

I wonder how much of this was triggered by watching Lebron carry a mediocre Cavs team close to the finals over the last week. Its gotta be frustrating for Kobe seeing that, when he knows even though he's the better player he'd never be able to carry a team (with no other stars) like that so far in the west. If this Cavs team was in the west they probably don't get out of the first round either.

There's some speculation that Kobe is doing this to get Jerry West back in LA too now that he has stepped down from his Memphis gig. If that happened Kobe would be much more optomistic that things would get done sooner than later.