Not that what he said wasn't impressive none the less...but it was more than 8 years between 1991 and 2000.
If I was LA, I would drop Kobe and go hard after LeBron next summer. It's pretty clear that Bryant is not going to be the kind of guy that accepts his aging process and struggles with his diminishing star over the next few years. Dude needs to go, but the only player who would be worth it to LA to cut ties with Kobe would be LeBron. Watch the Lakers win the lottery and draft Wiggins. Sign LeBron. Cut Kobe.
It's not just Kobe that hurts the Lakers. Other teams can offer the same amount of money (or more) with a better tax rate in that certain teams state.
They've shown that they will happily cut a star loose in favor of a younger and better star. They did it to Shaq.
LeBron will join the L*kers and bring another superstar with him. Book it. That kind of carpetbagging is why I will always hate that franchise.
Why would LeBron choose LA? Why not stay in Miami, ask Wade and Bosh to take major paycuts, and then add a player like Demarcus Cousins to that team?
The Lakers wasted their amnesty on Metta World Peace instead of Kobe and his massive salary. He's a Laker at least until his contract is up.
You really think he won't have any say on rigging this league? He is addicted to doing it, he won't stop just because he's not commissioner.
Ok I'll take you up on that. I'll bet ya $100 and give ya 2 to 1 odds. There is no way LeBron has interest in going to a rebuilding team that is terrible enough to get the #1 pick. LeBron would be viewed as a mercenary player jumping from team to team; his legacy is important to him. He probably wins a title this year and we have never seen a finals MVP leave as a free agent. But if somehow they don’t win and he leaves Miami I could see him having interest in his hometown of Cleveland to finish what he started. Kyrie Irving is a much better player today than an unproven rookie Wiggins. You think a 30 year old LeBron in his prime wants to wait around for a rookie?
LeBron isn’t going to the Lakers and the team won’t be bad enough for one of the top lottery picks. Just like the Bulls of 2000 or Mavs of 2011 Lakers management has been overconfident and arrogant believing they are primarily responsible for the team success instead of the players. Players didn’t like Jerry Krause rhetoric, they didn’t like the Mavs parting ways with guys who just won a title and they don’t like Jim Buss believing he has more acumen than Phil Jackson. The team will have to compete in free agency with teams that have multiple draft picks still on underpaid rookie contracts. Yet the Lakers will have to pay full market price for all of their acquisitions. Now in 4 years maybe the Lakers have some assets and can sign away a stud free agent. LA is a city with much more allure than most. But right now as a Laker hater I am ecstatic because that team has zero hope of contending in the immediate future.
Blazer fans spending this much time talking about the L*kers makes me want to barf. "Lock this bullshit thread down!" - HomerLovesCausingPanic
I think you underestimate LeBron's ego. He won his two championships with the Super Friends, but I think he'd be down to return the storied franchise to its state of glory. He wants to cement his legacy, so he needs to win one somewhere other than Miami. Possibly back in Cleveland, or maybe somewhere else. I just don't know if I see him going back to Ohio. There's a lot of bad blood there.
