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direct audio link:
http://a1135.g.akamai.net/f/1135/182...TLE=Interviews
He traded Shaq for Kobe and destroyed a once proud franchise in the name of Kobe's ego -- what more does Kobe want from him?
direct audio link:
http://a1135.g.akamai.net/f/1135/182...TLE=Interviews
intersting
Yah....and Shaq demanding a trade and Kobe being a free Agent had nothing to do with it.
smart thing for Kobe. the lakers' owner, Jerry Buss, got arrested for suspected DUI.
I'm glad he's speaking up - I always thought he got an unfair share of the blame for what happened in '04. the lakers flat out lied to him, and with Kobe's compe ive nature, he was never going to be able to handle losing all the time to begin with - and with that revelation, I think he just snapped.
What a major whine fest!
Kobe has sealed his fate. He obviously doesn't know about the "24 hour" rule when angry, dayum. Self-Sabatoge City.
I wont be surprised if kobe tries to force a trade to chicago bulls in the offseason
noooooooo!!!! the last thing we need is another superstar in the east - we have enough trouble with lehype and Wade as it is.
If he went to Chicago, they better do the trade on the condition that Kobe can't wear 24 or any number anywhere close to 23. , he can't wear anything close to 45 either. No numbers in the 20's or 40's for him. He can either go back to 8 or pick some other number, but he should never be allowed to disgrace Jordan's 23 or 45.
Sad thing is, if Kobe was a team-player, he would have had a ring by now, but he want's it to be all about Kobe. That said, if anyone ever had a chance to get Kobe's head straight, it would be POP.
Anyone know what the "Laker Insider" said about Kobe? specifically?
Kobe always playing the "victim" I'm pretty sure the blame doesn't ALLL go on everyone else but him? Funny how it works out that way in his radio interview. Regardless if the FO is a "mess" as he said. Kobe's whole drama-queen at ude alone in that interview makes it hard for me to feel any sympathy for him feeling frustrated.
Kobe is so ing impulsive it's funny
My favorite part of the interview, nearing the end, Kobe actually cries about even having a "headache today."
Stars are aligned in latest Lakers drama
Bryant, the Busses, Jackson, Kupchak and West form a tangled web of alliances and complicated relationships, all of which doesn't change the fact that the team will not trade Bryant.
May 29, 2007
http://www.latimes.com/sports/basket...rts-nba-lakers
Not that the Lakers are unsettled, but these days you can't tell the factions without a program:
Jerry Buss Owner, which isn't as much fun as it used to be.
Jim Buss Owner's son and right-hand man. Just gave a radio interview in which he suggested once more that he and his father only reluctantly brought back
Phil Jackson Coach who doesn't want to go out like this, making him a close ally of
Kobe Bryant Franchise player who's holding out the possibility of asking to be traded to another franchise if they don't bring back
Jerry West Once and perhaps future Lakers icon, although his primary loyalty in this situation goes to
Mitch Kupchak West's old right-hand man, now the Lakers general manager, which means that even if Jerry Buss still backs him, Kupchak is the one everyone blames for everything.
Jeanie Buss Owner's daughter who has a long-standing relationship with Jackson. Runs the business side of the operation but has no clout on the basketball side.
Tangled as their web was, they didn't think things could get any worse until news that Lamar Odom and Kwame Brown would need surgery, complicating trades, and Western Conference rivals Portland and Seattle drew the picks with which they're expected to take budding superstars Greg Oden and Kevin Durant.
Seeming to raise the stakes with every telephone interview, Bryant told The Times' Mike Bresnahan that his frustration was ongoing, turning our Sunday paper into a special section on Kobe.
Then Bryant did his usual number with ESPN's Ric Bucher, who was obliged to go on camera and state Bryant's views, as opposed to quoting him directly.
Bryant said he wanted West back. Bucher paraphrased him as adding, "Short of doing that, yes, I have a no-trade clause. Yes, I'd be willing to waive that. You might as well go ahead and trade me because I can't wait for the current team to develop."
Bucher says that after going on the air, he checked back and Bryant said he'd been accurately represented.
However, the same day, Bryant told Bresnahan that he wanted West, but it wasn't an ultimatum "It's not something where I demand he comes here. All I can do is offer my thoughts. I love being a Laker. I want to retire a Laker. I want to fix this thing or at least help any way I can."
This is enough to keep every sports talk show in the nation busy until the start of next season, but let's cut to the chase.
Kobe's not going anywhere now, whether he asks to be traded or not.
The Lakers aren't remotely ready to consider trading him and starting over.
In a year, a lot of things might have come to a head and the Lakers might feel different. Now there's no way.
Bryant has been a perfect organization man for three seasons, maintaining a steadfast belief in the same goal they pursued, however unrealistic it was.
Nevertheless, as a Lakers insider notes, it was Bryant's insistence on getting away from Shaquille O'Neal that got them in this mess.
It's true enough. By their final season, O'Neal and Bryant disliked each other equally.
However, O'Neal was just focused on a three-year, $80-million extension, which was about $15 million higher than Buss wanted to go.
It was Bryant who was focused on getting away from O'Neal, whether that meant going to the Clippers or returning to the Lakers after they traded him.
One thing the Lakers don't have to worry about: If Bryant is here, he'll play. Whatever problems he presents, not giving his all isn't among them.
Whether Kobe said anything about asking to be traded or not, it's implicit in everything he says.
Bryant has been fuming privately for months but has stopped short of actually asking to be traded.
However, trying to carry a modest roster facing giant expectations starting with his own it was always a possibility.
Seattle's Ray Allen said three years ago that he expected Bryant to ask to be traded. The Lakers media corps was keenly aware of Bryant's mood, which was unfailingly upbeat until this season's 16-27 finish and their first-round, barely-bothered-to-show-up exit.
Bryant has little leverage, two seasons from his 2009 opt-out. However, a year from now, the Lakers would be at a decision point, facing the prospect of losing him and getting nothing.
West could well return but not to run things.
At 69, at the end of his five-year run in Memphis, his first concern isn't Bryant but Kupchak.
West is not only Kupchak's mentor but his close friend. As an insider said Monday, "Jerry would not come back to the Lakers under any scenario in which he's seen as replacing Mitch."
If West returns at all, it would be in a background role, most likely as a consultant.
Until Jerry Buss signs on, any thought of West's return is still just another Lakers dream.
On Sunday, West restated his loyalty to Memphis owner Michael Heisley and Kupchak but told ESPN's Jim Gray, "I'm a lifelong Laker, so we'll see what happens."
However, friends say West is so unhappy at the perception that this is happening, he will release a statement saying he has no plans past finishing his season in Memphis.
Moreover, the idea did not originate with Buss, who has yet to indicate what he thinks of it.
Of course, now that West's name is out there, Buss might have little more choice than he did two years ago when he knew Lakers fans wouldn't settle for any coach but Jackson.
Leaving the fans out of it, if West is willing to be a consultant, the Lakers had better consult him.
Their old model organization is now all over the map. Even in a low-key, background role, West would be the voice everyone respects that they need so badly.
No general manager in the NBA ever had West's cachet. Without it, there was no check on Buss' optimism, which turned into three years of organizational denial that continues to this confused day of this turbulent off-season.
I hate how kobe is crying about not having a team built to win a championship. It's true that he doesn't have the players around him, but the real problem is the state the NBA is in in terms of how much it's "superstars" make. The NBA has become so dilluted over the years because of this. You've got teams who aren't going to spend the money to obtain good players becuse of their too high expectations and demands money wise, and I don't blame them.
And Kobe isn't helping his cause becuase he probably takes up half of the salary cap. He's fooled into regarding the status quo as legit--his salary shows for it!--when it is in opposition to his own argument. He's got to take a pay cut.
Ah, cool, thanks TrueD.
lol, it's funny, how Kobe's stigma is so strong. I wonder if Jerry Buss and co. kept Bryant in the dark, *because* of the fact that in 2004, he was such a drama-queen (and still is apparently), and wasn't trusted in the decision making for the Laker Franchise.
Since my team is sucking, and this whole drama sounds fairly interesting, i went on the Lakers board. Apparently Shaq's getting in on the action and on ESPN ? (or somewhere), he's saying that Kobe is telling the truth.
The drama of Laker Land
for once i agree with the Spurs worshipping here.
Dirk creates matchup problems with the Spurs. there is not much defensively that Golden State threw at Dirk then San Antoniio threw at him near the end of the series last year. the difference is, Dirk came to play in the san antonio series. im tired of the knee-jerk reactions. this move just shows that we are focusing on getting past the Warriors. lets just focus on developing Dirk into a complete superstar. it can still happen. Trading superstars is not the answer. we need to keep our core of players. if we wanna win a championship we cant blow up this team, or we will always knock ourselves down a notch every offseason. thats my take
Anyone hear the interview?
Kobe: "That place is a mess."
Stephen A. Smith | Bryant fires back at Lakers
By Stephen A. Smith
Inquirer Columnist
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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 . 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?
"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."
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 les, 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 les. 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."
http://www.philly.com/inquirer/colum...at_Lakers.html
Oh, yes, Stephen A. Smith is the best journalist.... ever.
kobe got screwed by the lakers. that organization is a mess. he should've signed with the clips when they had the chance. they could have been competing for a championship. but right now, the future looks really bleak for the Fakers.
On sportscenter, Shaq says Kobe is telling the truth about Buss not wanting to pay him 30 million regardless of what Kobe does as a free agent.
Like he is pestering Deron Williams?
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