<div class="quote_poster">Quoting shapecity:</div><div class="quote_post">It's not just PJax, Kobe has also lobbied for the Lakers to not trade Odom. </div> If I'm being honest, the only reason Kobe doesn't want to trade Odom is because he doesn't want to be the main source of the blame for ruining the team as there was a rumour that "Kobe had a bust up with Odom." He knows people won't be able to see past the fact that we don't need Odom and that they never really had a fight. He will once again be blamed for the "break up" of the team. Something, he doesn't desire to happen to him again.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Laker_fan:</div><div class="quote_post">If I'm being honest, the only reason Kobe doesn't want to trade Odom is because he doesn't want to be the main source of the blame for ruining the team as there was a rumour that "Kobe had a bust up with Odom." He knows people won't be able to see past the fact that we don't need Odom and that they never really had a fight. He will once again be blamed for the "break up" of the team. Something, he doesn't desire to happen to him again.</div> Damn! I just wish people would stop criticising him or blaming him for shyt. Its funny how 96% of nba fans hate him and funny how hes # 2 in all star balloting. Not take anything from kobe, but i think kobe should not play in the all star game just to bring the ratings down and shyt. And he should start being mean to people like he hasnt already. No interviews nothing.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Empra!15:</div><div class="quote_post">Damn! I just wish people would stop criticising him or blaming him for shyt. Its funny how 96% of nba fans hate him and funny how hes # 2 in all star balloting. Not take anything from kobe, but i think kobe should not play in the all star game just to bring the ratings down and shyt. And he should start being mean to people like he hasnt already. No interviews nothing.</div> He's blamed because he's an easy and convenient target for everyone. As far as players coming in or going out, I don't see anything wrong with Kobe being involved and expressing his opinion on it. He's the franchise player, he should have a say in what player movement takes place. These media people who constantly point out his flaws and villanize him at every turn are writers who don't have the connections for real stories. "I have nothing to write about today, let me write a negative article on Kobe." Unfortunately, people eat up these tabloid stories and exaggerations when ever #8 is involved. People who hate will read the story to validate their hate, and people who support Kobe will read the story to defend him. He captures the attention of both audiences and that sells the most. Just today a lame writer from the LA Times titled his article "Kobe is not a fan of Superman." Of course people will correlate Superman with Shaq, but the gist of the article talked about how Kobe flipped back and forth from the Jazz game and the Christopher Reeves Superman movie from the 80's, his daughter wanted to watch with him. Obviously this story has nothing to do with basketball or the Lakers. I really don't care what Kobe does at home or how he is spending time off during his suspension. I'd rather read about the Laker practice and find out if PJax is going to make any adjustments with his rotations. That's real sports writing, and not some tabloid crap only casual fans care about. And the LA Times wonders why their subscription base has dropped by 54% in the last year.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting shapecity:</div><div class="quote_post">Unfortunately, people eat up these tabloid stories and exaggerations when ever #8 is involved.</div> Very true, but it applies to all players not just #8. Kidd got a ridiculous amount of coverage when the Byron Scott drama was going on, I'm still not sure if those two actually argued or if it was fabricated. When the Wolves were in turmoil after Flip was fired KG actually did an interview! Ray and Nate. Iverson and LB. Tmac in Orlando too. Artest gets it too, the only difference is that Ron turned his back on his supporters while Kobe hasn't. Oh and Ron is generally accepted as unstable. Tim Duncan is the exception to the rule, and thus far Lebron James as well. Kobe has to take some of the blame....you can't say that none of it is his fault. Chucky Atkins made comments about Kobe being the GM of the team. Lets keep in mind that the Lakers couldn't even lure Tyron Lue back, and he would have easily been the starting pg. Yet he chose to stay in a perennial lottery city like ATL? Not necessarily Kobe's fault, but it makes you wonder.
someone please trade someboby or trade for a losing team to get a lottery pick, if we don't trade anyone second year missing the playoffs.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting dtpxcore:</div><div class="quote_post">someone please trade someboby or trade for a losing team to get a lottery pick, if we don't trade anyone second year missing the playoffs.</div> Thats a nice way to lift our sprits up.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Jurassic:</div><div class="quote_post">Very true, but it applies to all players not just #8. Kidd got a ridiculous amount of coverage when the Byron Scott drama was going on, I'm still not sure if those two actually argued or if it was fabricated. When the Wolves were in turmoil after Flip was fired KG actually did an interview! Ray and Nate. Iverson and LB. Tmac in Orlando too. Artest gets it too, the only difference is that Ron turned his back on his supporters while Kobe hasn't. Oh and Ron is generally accepted as unstable. Tim Duncan is the exception to the rule, and thus far Lebron James as well. Kobe has to take some of the blame....you can't say that none of it is his fault. Chucky Atkins made comments about Kobe being the GM of the team. Lets keep in mind that the Lakers couldn't even lure Tyron Lue back, and he would have easily been the starting pg. Yet he chose to stay in a perennial lottery city like ATL? Not necessarily Kobe's fault, but it makes you wonder.</div> I don't think you can use that Tyronn Lue argument here. Lue could've easily chosen Atlanta because of all the young talent they have there. They have a bright future. Al Harrington, Marvin Williams, Josh Smith, Josh Childress, Salim Stoudamire, and Joe Johnson. That is one hell of a talent pool, plus their cap room. That is a lot brighter than Kobe Bryant, Lamar Odom, and the rest of the Laker squad--no matter how talented Mr. 8 is. That easily negates what you're trying to say.
Tyronne Lue was an exception to most free agents because he wanted to stay loyal to the Hawks organization. They gave him a chance to be a starter and he was appreciative of it. It would have been great if the Lakers could have inked Lue this offseason, but he wanted to be a part of the Hawks rebuilding and took less money to stay in Atlanta. As for Atkins comments, they don't mean much coming from him. He's already asked to be traded this season in Washington. You just hear things come out his mouth and laugh, because he's a journeyman scrub. The reason why he can't stick with a team is because Chucky is the problem and not the players around him. The media loves to paint this perception that no one in the league wants to play with Kobe or the Lakers. But there is no player (except Shaq) who has said they'd never play with Kobe.
Will anyone trade for Artest? It seems like every team that comes close backs out the last minute. Now Troy Murphy of the warriors is said to be a keeper. I feel sorry for Ronstoppable. Let the guy play!
I bet Ron Artest gets traded to a team we won't expect. Lakers don't seem to want to give up for him, Denver has nothing to give for him at the moment, and now the rumor is Golden State wants to hang on to their guys. I expect Artest to be traded to a low-rate team, or he is gonna be talent in a bag sitting in free agency forever.
Now the Golden State players are not playing to their fullest because they are scared to get traded...and it seem that Golden State's coach and upper management do not agreed on getting Artest. The coach wants to maintain his players and upper management wants to trade for Artest.
The Lakers need a consistent player like Artest. I still think he is the piece to the puzzle to help us make some noise in this seasons playoffs.
Artest will probably end up in Miami. They managed to screw every other team for good players by sending their rejects the other way.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Laker_fan:</div><div class="quote_post">Artest will probably end up in Miami. They managed to screw every other team for good players by sending their rejects the other way.</div> Indy isnt going to help Miami. They dont want to have to face Artest 4 times a year and possibly in the playoffs. More than likely he'll go to the west but if he doesnt then hes going to a very bad team in the east.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Run BJM:</div><div class="quote_post">Indy isnt going to help Miami. They dont want to have to face Artest 4 times a year and possibly in the playoffs. More than likely he'll go to the west but if he doesnt then hes going to a very bad team in the east.</div> It was a joke. Fair point anyway.
The Lakers have the assets that could land Artest, but have chosen not to. Considering there is not nearly the market value the Pacers had hoped for, Lamar Odom would be overpaying. The Lakers are not willing to move him and based on what else other teams are offering, that's probably wise. Bryant attributes much of his individual scoring success this season to Odom. “It’s that guy you should be talking about. He’s the facilitator. I can put the pedal to the metal because of him," Bryant said after his 50-point performance against the Clippers. "He takes a lot of pressure off me, because he takes the playmaking responsibilities; which frees me up to score.” The Lakers have built an offense around Odom as initiator and Bryant as finisher. They're not prepared to give up on that formula at this time. Although the Lakers can offer to take on some of Indiana's bad contracts while offering players like Kwame Brown, Chris Mihm and/or Devean George, the Pacers are not impressed. Although there isn't any offer on the table that the Pacers truly like, the Lakers' package is not among those in contention. So what can the Lakers do to land Ron Artest? The best young prospect the franchise has on the roster is rookie Andrew Bynum. Though he's a long way away from being a regular contributor, he is probably the only player on the team who has the potential to be top 50 in the league, outside of Bryant and Odom. A package of Bynum with George and the Miami 2006 pick is an offer the the Pacers are said to have made to the Lakers. The response from the Lakers . . . absolutely not. Now that's a tough one at first, do you trade a growing seven foot kid with a solid work ethic and a mountain of potential that the team has a ton of faith in? The general philosophy is that you need a center to win in this league. Had Bynum come out in this upcoming draft, he would project to be a top five pick. The Lakers don't plan on being close to the lottery any time soon; Bynum represents their best opportunity to improve via the draft. If the market is bare for Artest, why should the Lakers give up their best prospect for him? Well for one, if they don't . . . they're not going to land Artest. A lineup of Smush Parker, Kobe Bryant, Ron Artest, Lamar Odom and Chris MihmKwame Brown has a lot of potential to win right now. The Western Conference is nowhere near as strong as it was a few years ago. The Spurs are the class of the West, but with Artest on Manu Ginobili, Smush Parker on Tony Parker, MihmKwame on Tim Duncan with both Kobe Bryant and Lamar Odom playing off their men as help defenders . . . that's a combination that could give the Spurs some problems. Although you wouldn't ink LA as a lock to make it to the NBA Finals, adding Artest to the team for just George and Bynum would give the Lakers a legitimate shot at contention. I say trade bynum if hes not getting minutes. Let us be atleast a conteneder to the SPURS!
^ I'd hate to see Bynum leave and I strongly doubt he will. I dont think Lakers will land Artest. I'm not too disappointed either. There are a lot of free agents coming up in the next few seasons and I'm looking forward to hopefully seeing the Lakers land some other great players.
Im still not convinced that Artest would be a good fit with the Lakers and Kobe. First of all, Artest has complained about being too "structured" in Indiana, imagine how he's going to feel in the Triangle? He likes to hold the ball and the offense slows down in his hands. That's everything that the Triangle is not. In addition, he's has been outspoken on who the 'go-to-guy' of the PAcers is, claiming he's the bigger star over JO ... now if he were to be a Laker, there is no doubt who the Lakers' main man is ... but does Artest know that too?? And would he be able to come to terms with it?? It's a huge risk obviously, and I'm not in favor of it rite now
Wait for Artest, price will come down <div class="quote_poster">Quoting notMuchgame:</div><div class="quote_post"> It's a huge risk obviously, and I'm not in favor of it rite now</div> With this Laker team there is no risk as long as we don't overpay for him. If we wait a while and can get him for George and Miami's pick and a second then we lose nothing. Don't give up Bynum or Odom. Indiana is greedy right now, but in time the offers will give out. If Artest turns out to be our Rahsheed, we could have the foundation for a title run with another player added
