Lakers: Kobe promises return next year, Laker fans cry warrior, Besteva cries Kirby Pls :'(

[Mugen]

Like hearing your favorite comedy has been renewed for another season tbh.

[Killakobe81]

Like I said they are going to have to drag that guy off the court. I know a fan of his who said he should just save face now and not embarass himself more and retire, some of his fans even feel that way. I agree with you 100% on this here! No arguments and yes he should just tuck it in and retire. He really needs to give it up and the 37% shooting all year was an indication to me he is done. His contract is huge and he won't leave that off the table either, he will play out next year and get hurt again a few times and then probably re-sign for another year or two as that would not surprise me. He loves the game too much.

Agree with a lot of this, but he has a right to walk away when he wants. I dont want to see this version of Kobe but the struggle is real. The pick must be kept at all costs otherwise season is a complete waste passing MJ a triple double or playing OK against Lebron none of that means squat to me.

[ElNono]

He's not going away like this. He'll come back next season, play reduced minutes and play in a more realistic role.

what's a "realistic" role? 28ish shots per game?

[Chomag]

He has a perfectly good left arm to shoot off still!

[Killakobe81]

He has a perfectly good left arm to shoot off still!

LOL ok that was funny ...

[sprrs]

Best case scenario: The more time he spends on the floor next year the worse they do. The means a better pick. As long as they're rebuilding anyway...

[benefactor]

Like hearing your favorite comedy has been renewed for another season tbh.

[Clipper Nation]

He's not going away like this. He'll come back next season, play reduced minutes and play in a more realistic role.

[KL2]

Lakers won't win another championship for 20+ years lmao, they're ed. It's gonna be 2-3 more years with Kobe, during that time they won't win jack . Then a decade or so of lottery teams and trying to find a proper coach, trying to adapt to the new NBA in which you just can't buy teams anymore. The NBA is changing, LA is going to get left behind until they finally get real management.

[SupremeGuy]

He's going to duck his kids too?

[Splits]

The model is there. Look at Pierce, Garnett, Prince, Vince, etc. They play limited minutes and if they start they don't play b2b. The exceptions are Dirk and Duncan who have been on minute/game restrictions for the past few seasons. Kobe thinking he can defy father time, and Byron and ownership accepting that delusional approach, is why he keeps getting injured. If he's just a role-player, he can keep going for a few more years. If he has to "be the man", he's done.

[StrengthAndHonor]

what's a "realistic" role? 28ish shots per game?

He averaged 20.4 this year. It's not far fetch to believe he'll average below that next year. His usage rate has remained but his shot attempts decreased and assist numbers went up before his shoulder gave up. That was Kobe's ego accepting the undeniable fact his body could no longer compete at a pace he wants.


His farewell tour isn't going to be glorious but I don't believe it's going to be as bad as this year.

[StrengthAndHonor]

Kobe thinking he can defy father time, and Byron and ownership accepting that delusional approach, is why he keeps getting injured.

This. Kobe went into this season thinking he could replicate his last productive statistical year.

[bigzak25]

Stealin that loot.

[ElNono]

He averaged 20.4 this year. It's not far fetch to believe he'll average below that next year. His usage rate has remained but his shot attempts decreased and assist numbers went up before his shoulder gave up. That was Kobe's ego accepting the undeniable fact his body could no longer compete at a pace he wants.

His farewell tour isn't going to be glorious but I don't believe it's going to be as bad as this year.

which really boils down to: I'm gonna have the ball in my hands, and run the offense as I please. He will simply never relinquish control, and that's the main reason nobody of note really wants to play in LA.

[StrengthAndHonor]

which really boils down to: I'm gonna have the ball in my hands, and run the offense as I please. He will simply never relinquish control, and that's the main reason nobody of note really wants to play in LA.

Which is fine people shouldn't expect much from the Buss era Lakers tbh. They are going nowhere next year. As long as he doesn't go on a shooting binge, he'll have a respectable exit.

[ElNono]

Which is fine people shouldn't expect much from the Buss era Lakers tbh. They are going nowhere next year. As long as he doesn't go on a shooting binge, he'll have a respectable exit.

he'll be shutting it down with another fake injury midway through the season if playoffs are not in the horizon. He's been using that "out" for far too long to go away from it now.

[StrengthAndHonor]

he'll be shutting it down with another fake injury midway through the season if playoffs are not in the horizon. He's been using that "out" for far too long to go away from it now.

I wont' be surprised with that especially if things goes south, say early December or January. We've seen the excuses this year, so yeah that's plausible.

[elmanutres]

The Stubbornness

[unforeseen]

Kobe will sign a CAP friendly 4 years/$50 million contract after next season.