Silence Says Everything: Kobe Bryant & Los Angeles Lakers Still At OddsAugust 04 07 ESPN’s Ric Bucher updates Kobe Bryant’s status with the Los Angeles Lakers: The Lakers, meanwhile, have been silent, too. That’s not so good, since it’s their inability to make any significant moves that prompted Kobe to ask out in the first place. Just understand this, in lieu of Bryant telling you himself: If he was boiling about the Lakers for not jumping at the chance to get Jason Kidd at the trade deadline, he’s now at the stage where the water has evaporated and the bone-dry pot is scorched and rattling, after having a firsthand taste of what playing with Kidd is like at the Team USA minicamp last month. Kidd, by several accounts, was an absolute wonder during the three-day training session and equally thrilled about playing with Bryant. "No question," said someone close to Bryant, "his frustration was made worse by Vegas." My Quick Take: Their silence says everything. Bryant and the Lakers are at odds. Bucher correctly reports that the situation has been inflamed by Kidd and Bryant clicking at the Team USA Camp and Garnett getting traded to Boston, not Los Angeles.
Bryant has Carpe Diem, which means seize the day, tattooed to his arm. He views the Lakers inability to get Kidd and Garnett as the anti-Carpe Diem. He believes the front office has been on permanent holiday, allowing rivals to improve and pounce on available talent. I don’t know what happens from here. There are three issues with the Bryant-Laker standoff:
1) The Lakers would be hard pressed to get equal value for #24 in a trade. Such a concept doesn’t exist. Dealing him would be suicidal, so the team has decided to build around him.
2) However, the Lakers lack the assets and cap space to provide Bryant with a decent supporting cast. With each playoff loss, the tension mounts. And Bryant becomes more frustrated.
3) There’s a complication to this damned if you trade Kobe, damned if you keep Kobe dilemma. Bryant has an opt-out clause in his contract. He can become an unrestricted free agent in two seasons. If he walks, the Lakers get nothing in return. This is the worst case scenario.
Again, silence says everything. It’s the calm before the Kobe-Lakers storm really hits.
What will happen between Bryant and Los Angeles? Get at us in the comment box below with your thoughts. Click here to read and subscribe to Oly Sandor’s NBA Blog.
Posted by
KB PLAYA
on 12.29.2007 | kobe is probably the best player in the nba but that doesn’t mean he needs to act like hes all that and keep switching teams like for real common now hes hot and all but god damn it!!!! no offene kobe!!!! but stick to one team it gets a little old!!! . | Posted by
diallo
on 08.10.2007 | i am so dissappointed at the lakers this off-season except signing D-fish. All of this drama is bringing the lakers down. Mitch needs to bring the lakers up to win a championship . | Posted by
REBO
on 08.6.2007 | we know Kobe is the best player in the NBA today but he cannot carry his team by his own..to get in the finals again give him back ups that could contribute also when he’s not in good rhythm..that when he penetrates to the basket and nowhere to go..he can pa------- it and make room for scoring..LAL is still a great contender in the west with this suggestion line-ups..KObE,jermaine o neal on forward and Dwight howard on center..thats it and the rest of the lakers is quiet enough to sustain the force of the laker team..GO GO lakers plus with Phil everything is under control... . | Posted by
on 08.6.2007 | yo...you 2 . | Posted by
on 08.6.2007 | y’all need to get back to work.... . | Posted by
CRUSADERS
on 08.6.2007 | IF I AM THE OWNER OF A NBA TEAM, I WOULD STILL DO WHAT PAXSON OF BULLS DID,,, NOT TO GET KOBE,,, PAXSON IS RIGHT THAT HE WILL NOT SACRIFICE HIS MEN IN EXCHANGE OF KOBE,,,, THAT A GOOD TEAM CONCEPT AND ONLY MJ AND HIS FRIENDS DID WHAT IS IMPOSSIBLE AND KOBE SHOULD REALLY THINK WHATS WRONG, CHANGE KOBE CHANGE,,,YOUR NOT MJ . | Posted by
CRUSADERS
on 08.6.2007 | KOBE IS A GOOD PLAYER BUT NEVER BEEN A GOOD TEAM LEADER,,, IF HE THINKS HE IS A GREAT PLAYER AND BE GIVEN SUCH ATTENTION, WELL I GUESS HE NEED TO REASSESS HIMSELF AND MANAGE HIS OWN STYLE OF BEING, AND ACT A HUMAN BEING,,,, WHERES SHAQ? HE PROVED LAKERS WRONG, AND WORTH HAVING... HISTORY TELLS THAT WHEN SHAQ LEFT EVRYBODY LEFT AND KOBE REMAINS AS A LAKER AND HE FAILED THE ORGANISATION ALSO FAILED PHIL BECAUSE FROM THERE PHIL LOST ALL THE RECORDS BULLS AND MJ DID INCLUDING THE SHAQ LEAD GROUP,,, KOBE, REASSES YOUR ATTITUDE... . | Posted by
JonJon
on 08.5.2007 | I think the lakers will miss the playoffs with this roster as the west is improving. Kobe will be playing in the olympic qualifying. He won’t have the energy to carry the lakers. Kwame is a bust ...odom is still soft ..they dnt havea deep bench at all. They need to make a move to get players like Artest, J o neal or sum other power players.. For Trade Cook, kwame, farmar and bynum or even Luke, . | Posted by
MENDI
on 08.5.2007 | I COME FROM ARGENTINA I AM A LAKERS FAN FROM 1986, FROM ME THE SOLUTION IS TOO EASY.. TRADE BYNUM, COOK, RADMANOVIC AND VUJACIC FOR PAUL GASOL OR J.O AND TRADE K BROWN, FARMAR AND 1# PICK FOR ARTEST, IT’S MY GUESS THAT THEY FORM AN INTERESTING SET SQUARE FISHER, KOBE ARTEST, ODOM AND GASOL OR J.O... THAT IS A COMPETITIVE ROSTER!!!!!GO LAKERS!!! . | Posted by
energy971
on 08.5.2007 | How many time should I say that ?? trade kobe for gods sake !! all the players mentionned here ( jermaine o’neal , okafor or gasol) won’t help i tell you. nba isnt just about a guard and a center there are 3 others players on the floor . trade him please . | Posted by
KB FAN 4 LIFE
on 08.5.2007 | truly i dont want kobe to leave but if the lakers never improve... trade kobe because he waited long enough for the lakers to become a championship contender!!!!! Im a kobe fan so i go where he goes. Look at shaq he went to the heat and a championship resulted. So i think kobe should go to another if tension continues to increase between KB and the lakers. opt out of the contract...hell with the lakers!!!!! because the staff’s only cares about money and there to much of a pussy to make a trade which will improve the lakers!!!! look at the celtics not very sure why they trade seven for KG but they took a risk that can result in big improvment to there team next year. hey im a LA resident/ LAKER fan since 2000 but if this misery still continues with the lakers i dont know i guess just go for another team where kobe is goingt o land into. . | Posted by
on 08.5.2007 | If I were the NETS, I would get Kobe and Jermaine to my roster... Think about that.... Kidd, Bryant, Magloire, Carter, O’neal.... That’s what you call a contender... Even the Celtics would have their hands full against them... . | Posted by
on 08.4.2007 | What I’m afraid of is if Kobe does play for the Lakers next season that he’ll have to beat himself up just to get his team into the playoffs. Like many of you pointed out, Kobe’s not getting any younger. If he has to carry the load offensively, defensively next season he will drastically expose himself to injury, wear and tear that is way advanced for his age. Bad predicament all around. For the sake of his career’s longevity, its probably not best for Kobe to stay in a team where he has to over-extend himself to compensate for his team-members’ inadequacies. . | Posted by
bambino
on 08.4.2007 | TIM DUNCAN IS THE GREATEST. . | Posted by
on 08.4.2007 | i have about 500-600 friends that are laker fans, if Kobe is traded we will not come to any games. it would be a total disaster. they should get rid of mitch and jim and get someone that knows basketball. . | Posted by
jitesh patel
on 08.4.2007 | KOBE IS NOT GETTING ANY YOUNGER AND HE SURE AS HELL ISNT GETTING WISER BUT THAT BEING SAID HE ONLY HAS 6 STRONG YEARS LEFT TO WIN A CHAMPIONSHIP AND WINNING ONE NOW IS HIS GOAL NOT WHEN HE IS 34 YEARS OLD AND CAN BARELY JUMP ,SOONER OR LATER PUSH WILL COME TO SHOVE AND THE LAKERS WILL HAVE TO BITTERLY TRADE KOBE CAUSE THEY ARE ALL SALARY CAPPED OUT AND DONT HAVE TRADE VALUE FOR ANYONE ON THERE ROSTER SO LOGICALLY SPEAKING THEY CANT GET ANY BETTER WITHOUT SUBTRACTION THANKS TO THAT STUPID SHAQ TRADE LA WILL CONTINUE TO SUFFER FOR THE NEXT 6 TO 10 YEARS BEFORE THEY RISE AGIAN WITH A NEW CROP OF PLAYERS . | Posted by
Mr. Roboto
on 08.4.2007 | hahhaha after all this years the "Everything-is-Kobes-Fault-sindrome" is still not erradicated.How will the down of the KG trade is kobes fault? i mean the only players that their name is not odom or kobe are all scrubs.Not to mention that we were dealing with a former Boston Celtic.got it? . | Posted by
on 08.4.2007 | Well if people would actually pay attention they’d realize that kobe and garnett are good friends and like to play together. They have the same drive and determination. Kobe has valid points in his arguments against the lakers. I don’t think he’s handling it as well as he should, because it’s hurting his reputation, but his points are all valid. He is that Lakers team. He has tried to do everything over the course of this year: be the scorer, the playmaker, the clutch player, the defensive player, the post up player, everything! Nobody stepped it up this season and when you have a player like Kobe who has such an intense drive and desire to win, that player is going to get pissed. I was on a basketball team in a similar situation, where, not to brag, I was the Kobe and it was the most frustrating thing ever. Also, we had limited players on our team so it was tiring. He has every right to be angry. . | Posted by
on 08.4.2007 | GARNNET WON’T COME TO L.AL WITH KOBY BRIANT ARROGANCE,, HE SCREW IT UP THE GARNNET DEAL WITH HIS SELFISH COMMENTS, WHO WANTS TO GO TO A TEAM WITH A PLAYER ASKING OUT, HIS VALUE IS GOING DOWN, HE WILL BE A PROBLEM WHEREVER HE GOES, TRADE HIM NEXT YEAR, KWAMI BROWN CONTRACT WILL BE GONE , GO FOR LEBRON IN 2 YEARS . | Posted by
2sharda
on 08.4.2007 | I say we trade Kwame Farmar and a first rounder for Okafor. That would be good. I dont think I want O’neal. I would rather have Odom. He will be at full strength next year and I feel he can do some things and become an all star. That means we have two but we need the third. Most of the dominant teams have three. I like Okafor, Gasol, Camby. Pick one! . |
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