duncan228
12-23-2007, 11:15 AM
http://www.ocregister.com/sports/bryant-trade-season-1948012-don-lakers
Bryant reflects on trade scenarios
He says it's up to the Lakers to "trade me or not trade me."
By KEVIN DING
The Orange County Register
NEW YORK -- Kobe Bryant likes his teammates, loves his coach and thinks the vastly improved Lakers are one tough but makeable step away from joining the NBA's elite.
Is that enough to draw an assumption that Bryant no longer wants to be traded?
Not given his still chilly relations with Lakers owner Jerry Buss, General Manager Mitch Kupchak and certain others in the organization — and not given what Bryant was saying Saturday.
"It's all what Mitch wants to do, really," Bryant said. "Mitch and Dr. Buss. It's all on them. They can either trade me or not trade me. It's completely their decision. Since the season started, I don't get into it, I don't talk about it, I don't discuss it, I don't think about it."
The Lakers started this four-city trip in Chicago, which Bryant confirmed Tuesday was "on his list … with a bullet" during trade talks just before the regular season started. After practice Saturday at an Upper East Side health club, Bryant acknowledged interest in playing in New York.
He revealed the Knicks, Bulls, Dallas Mavericks and Phoenix Suns were the teams on his list of preferred destinations when he plotted it out during the offseason. And Bryant didn't exactly shut down speculation on being traded from the Lakers now when he said: "If a Martian came to me and said, 'You can go to Mars tomorrow' … I probably wouldn't entertain it. Mars is a little too far."
Asked about coming to New York given the Knicks' mighty struggles, Bryant said: "I don't scare too easily."
Bryant was repeatedly asked Saturday if he has rescinded his trade request, and he declined to discuss it. He made a veiled reference to Buss' October comments about trying to trade Bryant — comments that upset him — by saying: "Since training camp, we all said that we weren't going to address the situation; we weren't going to talk about it. And I'm going to continue to live up to my end of the bargain."
Bryant reiterated that he is enjoying this season.
"I'm very happy," he said. "I'm happy because we have a very close-knit group here. We're like brothers. … I'm having a great time."
The Lakers have no serious intention of moving Bryant before the Feb. 21 trade deadline, but it remains to be seen if Bryant's desire to leave will crop up again after this season. He said his general willingness now to reflect on the trade scenarios from before the regular season shouldn't be interpreted as him revisiting trades in his mind now.
"I just kind of pushed everything to the backburner and stopped thinking about trades," Bryant said. "It wasn't something where I was scratching teams off or anything like that. I just stopped thinking about it, because once the season got underway my focus had to be here.
"It couldn't be split, because I'd be doing a disservice to my teammates. So I had to push everything to the backburner and let the business people take care of that and then get into absolute basketball mode and just focusing on this team."
Bryant reflects on trade scenarios
He says it's up to the Lakers to "trade me or not trade me."
By KEVIN DING
The Orange County Register
NEW YORK -- Kobe Bryant likes his teammates, loves his coach and thinks the vastly improved Lakers are one tough but makeable step away from joining the NBA's elite.
Is that enough to draw an assumption that Bryant no longer wants to be traded?
Not given his still chilly relations with Lakers owner Jerry Buss, General Manager Mitch Kupchak and certain others in the organization — and not given what Bryant was saying Saturday.
"It's all what Mitch wants to do, really," Bryant said. "Mitch and Dr. Buss. It's all on them. They can either trade me or not trade me. It's completely their decision. Since the season started, I don't get into it, I don't talk about it, I don't discuss it, I don't think about it."
The Lakers started this four-city trip in Chicago, which Bryant confirmed Tuesday was "on his list … with a bullet" during trade talks just before the regular season started. After practice Saturday at an Upper East Side health club, Bryant acknowledged interest in playing in New York.
He revealed the Knicks, Bulls, Dallas Mavericks and Phoenix Suns were the teams on his list of preferred destinations when he plotted it out during the offseason. And Bryant didn't exactly shut down speculation on being traded from the Lakers now when he said: "If a Martian came to me and said, 'You can go to Mars tomorrow' … I probably wouldn't entertain it. Mars is a little too far."
Asked about coming to New York given the Knicks' mighty struggles, Bryant said: "I don't scare too easily."
Bryant was repeatedly asked Saturday if he has rescinded his trade request, and he declined to discuss it. He made a veiled reference to Buss' October comments about trying to trade Bryant — comments that upset him — by saying: "Since training camp, we all said that we weren't going to address the situation; we weren't going to talk about it. And I'm going to continue to live up to my end of the bargain."
Bryant reiterated that he is enjoying this season.
"I'm very happy," he said. "I'm happy because we have a very close-knit group here. We're like brothers. … I'm having a great time."
The Lakers have no serious intention of moving Bryant before the Feb. 21 trade deadline, but it remains to be seen if Bryant's desire to leave will crop up again after this season. He said his general willingness now to reflect on the trade scenarios from before the regular season shouldn't be interpreted as him revisiting trades in his mind now.
"I just kind of pushed everything to the backburner and stopped thinking about trades," Bryant said. "It wasn't something where I was scratching teams off or anything like that. I just stopped thinking about it, because once the season got underway my focus had to be here.
"It couldn't be split, because I'd be doing a disservice to my teammates. So I had to push everything to the backburner and let the business people take care of that and then get into absolute basketball mode and just focusing on this team."