<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">While the NBA playoffs are going on, one of the main figures stuck at home watching like everybody else is busy ruffling feathers, naming names, and looking for the first ride out of Hollywood. Even if he has to hitchhike. Kobe Bryant has already let it be known that he's not interested in playing in Los Angeles any longer - not as long as general manager Mitch Kupchak and the rest of the Lakers' brass are making basketball decisions without the counsel of Jerry West, the team's former general manager, who was responsible for clearing his path from Lower Merion to Tinseltown. Things would be significant were they to stop there. "Except I'm not about to," Bryant said yesterday. "I've been quiet long enough." Just weeks after saying something needed to be done to improve the Lakers' roster, days after reiterating that point, and hours after suggesting that West's return to the organization might be the solution, Bryant went on an all-out assault after reading that a "team source" intimated in yesterday's Los Angeles Times that he was the reason Shaquille O'Neal was traded. The Lakers' owner, Jerry Buss, "called a meeting with me after he spoke with Jim Gray [of ESPN] to talk with him about Shaq's future in the middle of the 2004 season," Bryant said yesterday. "He met with me at the Four Seasons Hotel here across from Fashion Island, which is now the Island Hotel," Bryant said. "I went up to his penthouse suite. [Buss] looks me dead in the face and says: 'Kobe, I am not going to re-sign Shaq. I am not about to pay him $30 million a year or $80 million over three years. No way in hell. I feel like he's getting older. His body is breaking down, and I don't want to pay that money to him when I can get value for him right now rather than wait. This is my decision. It's independent of you. My mind is made up. It doesn't matter to me what you do in free agency because I do not want to pay [Shaq], period.' " "Dr. Buss said that," Bryant said. "And I haven't said anything for years because I've always felt like folks were just looking to create controversy. Now I know. I realize what extent [the Lakers] will go to, to cover themselves." And what does O'Neal think? <font size="3">"I believe Kobe 100 percent," said O'Neal, reached yesterday while in Los Angeles on business. "Absolutely. There's no doubt in my mind Kobe is telling the truth. I believe him a thousand percent. I would have respected Dr. Buss more as a man if he would have told me that himself, because I know he said it. But he didn't [tell me]. He never said a damn word to me."</font> Now look where it's gotten the Lakers. And Bryant. Buss, who was arrested yesterday in Carlsbad, Calif., for investigation of driving under the influence of alcohol, was unavailable for comment. So, too, was Kupchak. But the Lakers' organization did not deny yesterday that such a conversation took place. The Lakers were bounced out of the first round of the playoffs for the second consecutive season. And for the second straight season, it happened with Bryant as the league's leading scorer but still resembling the foot soldier going to gunfights with a pocket knife. Bryant, saddled with Lamar Odom and little else to show for three NBA titles, said he wanted Baron Davis, then Carlos Boozer, then Jason Kidd and Ron Artest, each time being told the Lakers couldn't get a deal done. Now, three full seasons after O'Neal's departure to Miami, Bryant appears to have lost all faith. The fact that he's keenly aware that most people feel he deserves to be miserable for helping to dismantle a potential dynasty - by provoking O'Neal's exodus - appears to have infuriated him now more than ever. Never mind that O'Neal was traded on July 14, 2004, for Odom, Caron Butler, Brian Grant, and a first-round pick, or that Bryant re-signed for seven years at $136 million the very next day. "The challenge is what it was all about for me," said Bryant, who negotiated a no-trade clause in his contract. "I told Dr. Buss - obviously, I was about to become a free agent - that I was interested in attacking the market. Chicago and the L.A. Clippers had better rosters. I was gone until Dr. Buss called me from vacation in Italy promising me he was not going to wait five years to rebuild, that he was going to rebuild right now. I trusted him. "Sure, Shaq and I had our issues. So what! We always did and we won three titles. That doesn't change what was told to me. It doesn't change the fact I never, ever, said to get rid of him. And it damn sure doesn't change the fact that all these years later, promises made to make this team better have not been kept. So where does that leave me?" Chicago? New York? Philadelphia, perhaps? "Keep talking," Bryant quipped. "Anything sounds good right now with the way I'm feeling."</div> Source: Philly.com You've even got Shaq backing Kobe up here. How long has this organization been shady? I'm losing respect fast for the Lakers management, it's disgusting to see Odom, Walton, and Kwame pouring their hearts out on the court in pain for this organization. It's disgusting to watch Kobe give it 110% every night and every morning in the offseason for this organization.
<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">Chicago? New York? Philadelphia, perhaps?</div> Add portland to that. If Kobe were to be traded, i personally think he would want to go to Philly or Chicago. Most likely in the east. All of this is based on if he does get traded. Imagine Kobe in the east, if it is a possible Philly, then it is going to exactly like a Jordan or Pippen, Kobe and AI. I really don't know how i feel about this management or the franchise in whole at this point. But also at that, would the organization be stupid enough to pass up on Oden?
When you sign a maximum contract to be the face of the franchise you shouldn't be bashing the same management team that you committed yourself to help succeed publicly. If he is upset with the direction of the franchise he should makes those statements known in house--and if they blow him off then he could come out and ask for a trade. If he wants Jerry West back I would think that he'd ask Jerry if he wanted to come back first before going to the media and demanding that Jerry Buss rehire him. It seems a bit immature on Kobe's part to bring all of this up now when the Lakers aren't even in a position to make any deals or draft picks to improve the team. If he was really that upset about what is going on he should just simply say that that he wants to be traded b/c of differences with management.
<div class="quote_poster">Iron Shiek Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">When you sign a maximum contract to be the face of the franchise you shouldn't be bashing the same management team that you committed yourself to help succeed publicly. If he is upset with the direction of the franchise he should makes those statements known in house--and if they blow him off then he could come out and ask for a trade. If he wants Jerry West back I would think that he'd ask Jerry if he wanted to come back first before going to the media and demanding that Jerry Buss rehire him. It seems a bit immature on Kobe's part to bring all of this up now when the Lakers aren't even in a position to make any deals or draft picks to improve the team. If he was really that upset about what is going on he should just simply say that that he wants to be traded b/c of differences with management.</div> Haven't you been reading the articles? Kobe made his feelings known in his exit interview INHOUSE. The Lakers organization has not spoken to him or reached out to him since then. Also, since then, there have been Laker "insider" articles blaming Kobe for shipping Shaq out... all of that in combination with recent information given to him by Phil Jackson as well as the fact that they blew every trade that could have gotten them better NOW is what has gotten Kobe to this point.
I haven't watched ESPN for the past few days, is this even being covered? I could imagine reporters with headlines saying Kobe wants to ditch the Lakers.
<div class="quote_poster">The Legend Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">I haven't watched ESPN for the past few days, is this even being covered? I could imagine reporters with headlines saying Kobe wants to ditch the Lakers.</div> Its a HUGE headline on ESPN's front page right now.
<div class="quote_poster">Iron Shiek Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">When you sign a maximum contract to be the face of the franchise you shouldn't be bashing the same management team that you committed yourself to help succeed publicly. </div> As he said himself, he only signed because the Lakers management promised to make a contender out of the team right away, and not rebuild and wait. Also, what more could he have done to help? Shutting up obviously does not work, because then they'll just keep doing what they're doing.
<div class="quote_poster">Fiyah Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">Haven't you been reading the articles? Kobe made his feelings known in his exit interview INHOUSE. The Lakers organization has not spoken to him or reached out to him since then. Also, since then, there have been Laker "insider" articles blaming Kobe for shipping Shaq out... all of that in combination with recent information given to him by Phil Jackson as well as the fact that they blew every trade that could have gotten them better NOW is what has gotten Kobe to this point.</div> Then he should just ask for a trade. What is the point of petitioning for a GM (Jerry West) that Buss has a feud with that probably wouldn't want to return to the Lakers anyway? People have been speculating that Kobe ran Shaq and Phil out for the past 3 years. If this article didn't mention any names than I don't understand why he is feeling the need to start throwing names under the "Buss" himself. If it is that dire of straits he needs to just ask for a trade and be done with it. He can't force the Lakers to make the trades that he wants unless it involves him. All of this other stuff is just postering.
<div class="quote_poster">Iron Shiek Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">Then he should just ask for a trade. What is the point of petitioning for a GM (Jerry West) that Buss has a feud with that probably wouldn't want to return to the Lakers anyway? People have been speculating that Kobe ran Shaq and Phil out for the past 3 years. If this article didn't mention any names than I don't understand why he is feeling the need to start throwing names under the "Buss" himself. If it is that dire of straits he needs to just ask for a trade and be done with it. He can't force the Lakers to make the trades that he wants unless it involves him. All of this other stuff is just postering.</div> He just asked for a trade.
<div class="quote_poster">Iron Shiek Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">Then he should just ask for a trade. What is the point of petitioning for a GM (Jerry West) that Buss has a feud with that probably wouldn't want to return to the Lakers anyway? People have been speculating that Kobe ran Shaq and Phil out for the past 3 years. If this article didn't mention any names than I don't understand why he is feeling the need to start throwing names under the "Buss" himself. If it is that dire of straits he needs to just ask for a trade and be done with it. He can't force the Lakers to make the trades that he wants unless it involves him. All of this other stuff is just postering.</div> yeah, he did that about an hour ago
The refresh button in this forum doesn't give me an up to date analysis on Kobe's mind set. I am trying to pay my bills you know.
Ah, time to get this thread back on topic... This statement from Shaq was pretty big. I think a lot of people were thinking for Shaq to stay mum or negate Kobe's comment.
