Kobe speaks with Jim Buss

[ArC_man]

Seems like Jim sold Kobe on a plan for the next 2 years and Kobe's buying in.

On the same day Bryant was recently officially ruled out for the remainder of the season because of a fractured knee in his left leg, the 35-year-old told reporters he expects the Lakers to return to championship form immediately, starting with the moves they make with their salary-cap space this summer. That diatribe prompted a meeting of the minds between Bryant and the Lakers' brass.

"Jimmy [executive vice president of player personnel Jim Buss] and I actually talked after that and it's important for us to have that conversation because this is their team, it's been in their family for years and we all know what the track record is for that, but I've also been part of this franchise since I was 17 years old," Bryant told Rovell. "I feel like I bleed purple and gold and I want to see this franchise be successful. I don't want to hear the comments of dissension between Jim and [Lakers president] Jeanie [Buss]. We need to figure this thing out. We're all moving in the same direction."

Bryant, who signed a two-year, $48.5 million extension with the team in November to lock up his 19th and 20th seasons in L.A., reiterated his message of urgency to Buss to return to the top as soon as possible.

"This organization is just not going to go [down]," Bryant said. "It's not going to take a nose dive. But I think we need to accelerate it a little bit for selfish reasons, because I want to win and I want to win next season. So, it's kind of getting them going now as opposed to two years from now."

Despite already airing his concerns about what direction the Lakers might be heading, Bryant said his faith is as strong as ever in the Lakers' ability to bounce back to contender status.

"Extremely confident," Bryant said. "That was one of my concerns [when he re-signed] and they assured me, 'This is fair for you for everything you've done for the franchise and will continue to do while being able to construct a team that is going to contend for a championship here over the next couple of years.'"

Full article: http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/10664 ... der-status

[Tiesto_Lakers]

Kobe took a dump today.

Kobe went to the mall after that.

[gotokyo]

Well unless Jimmy has some backdoor deal set in place to sign LBJ this summer I don't see us being championship contenders anytime soon.

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[The Skyhook]

I hope these idiots don't think the addition of Melo = championship. You would after getting paid that large sum of money Kobe would learn to keep his mouth like players from his generation such as Dirk, KG, and Pierce have even though they aren't competing. Enjoy your money and keep your noise out of their plans.

[GeorgeDillion]

I'm tired of Kobe running his mouth while eating up cap space ruining our rebuild plans, I honestly wish we had a humble player like Dirk who's loyal and would go along with the teams plan no matter what.

"Now that I already reached my goal (of winning it all), I really want to finish my career in Dallas,". "But saying all that, I don't want another year next year with the same as this year, (with) the frustration and playing for the eight or nine seed. I think we all know that this is a very big summer for us (Mavericks general manager) Donnie (Nelson) knows. Cuban knows. We want to get back to the championship level."

April 8 2013

Yearly salary owed the season after the rant : $22.7 Million.

[snaquille oatmeal]

I'm tired of Kobe running his mouth while eating up cap space ruining our rebuild plans, I honestly wish we had a humble player like Dirk who's loyal and would go along with the teams plan no matter what.

"Now that I already reached my goal (of winning it all), I really want to finish my career in Dallas,". "But saying all that, I don't want another year next year with the same as this year, (with) the frustration and playing for the eight or nine seed. I think we all know that this is a very big summer for us (Mavericks general manager) Donnie (Nelson) knows. Cuban knows. We want to get back to the championship level."

April 8 2013

Yearly salary owed the season after the rant : $22.7 Million.

the difference is that players like Dirk is that teams go into negotiations with these players with the mind set of entering negotiations with a low ball offer then the players agrees to it. with Kobe the huge offer came from the Lakers first and he took it. I think if the Lakers would have tried to reason with Kobe to take a lower offer in order to keep the bigger cap space Kobe would have gone for it, but that was not the case.

[GeorgeDillion]

My bad I should have used green font, on the first part.

[ak7]

So what now, they're going to uncharacteristically beg LeBron to come play in LA to appease Kobe? Ok.

Then what? Resign Gasol? Because LeBron/Kobe/Gasol will win anything?

Kobe is a stubborn dude, and I think he just wants the Lakers to honor their promise to him that they would contend the two years he's under contract. Can't say I really blame him for that.

They're in a not so possible situation to contend this coming year, either way.

[AdonisDeMarion]

I wished the Lakers offered 3 years 30 million type deal, we would be in a better position to add better talent.

[Kilroy]

What I don't get is why Kobe was preaching faith and trust in ownership before and after he signed his contract and basically up until his "revenge is sweet and quick" comment, but now he's all up in arms about something...

I didn't hear any inconsistency in any of the Buss's messages in all that time. Where's this conflict he talks about?

I assume something with the Phil negotiations irritated him, but I still don't see what.

All in all, this has gotten very soap operah-y and I'm losing interest. I feel a little foolish that I've spent as much time on it as I have, frankly.

[TonyMontana]

Kobe and his double edge sword.
He took a 23+ mil a years deal and then he cries about adding talent around him to win a title.
WTF is he smoking? Seriously! And then he talks sht. WTF are we suppose to do!
Some of these guys just need to STFU.

[chefy]

I'm tired of Kobe running his mouth while eating up cap space ruining our rebuild plans, I honestly wish we had a humble player like Dirk who's loyal and would go along with the teams plan no matter what.

"Now that I already reached my goal (of winning it all), I really want to finish my career in Dallas,". "But saying all that, I don't want another year next year with the same as this year, (with) the frustration and playing for the eight or nine seed. I think we all know that this is a very big summer for us (Mavericks general manager) Donnie (Nelson) knows. Cuban knows. We want to get back to the championship level."

April 8 2013

Yearly salary owed the season after the rant : $22.7 Million.

the difference is that players like Dirk is that teams go into negotiations with these players with the mind set of entering negotiations with a low ball offer then the players agrees to it. with Kobe the huge offer came from the Lakers first and he took it. I think if the Lakers would have tried to reason with Kobe to take a lower offer in order to keep the bigger cap space Kobe would have gone for it, but that was not the case.

Jesus come on now do you really believe this? Like he said he's been in the league since he's 17. You don't have to be a member of Mensa to figure this out, the less money you take = the more money we can use to sign top free agents. Even ballboys here know that having that cap space is our only hope of going back to being contenders again, this plan wasn't a secret, it was all over the news

[chefy]

Kobe and his double edge sword.
He took a 23+ mil a years deal and then he cries about adding talent around him to win a title.
WTF is he smoking? Seriously! And then he talks sht. WTF are we suppose to do!
Some of these guys just need to STFU.

This!!!!

[Kilroy]

What I don't get is why Kobe was preaching faith and trust in ownership before and after he signed his contract and basically up until his "revenge is sweet and quick" comment, but now he's all up in arms about something...

I didn't hear any inconsistency in any of the Buss's messages in all that time. Where's this conflict he talks about?

I assume something with the Phil negotiations irritated him, but I still don't see what.

Here's an idea... When Kobe was talking about 'faith in the org' and bright futures and all that when he signed his contract, I got the impression he was confident that there was a plan in place to get us into contention quickly... I thought at the time that maybe a big name had let it be known they'd come here to play with Kobe...
The most logical player to fit that mold in my mind was Melo... And just to get it out of the way, I'm not a huge Melo fan either... But it 'felt' like Kobe thought the Lakers had something up their sleeves and Melo seemed the most logical at the time...

What if Kobe's pissed now because he realized with Phil going to NY, Melo was less likely to leave? Maybe he feels like what Jeanie and Jim told him was in conflict with what happened... I wonder if the thought of Phil going to NY ever crossed his mind... It didn't cross mine until I heard it on the news.

[Dr Aki]

well ****, last time it only took 4 years to build another championship level team, and kobe wants one in 1 year?

sorry kobe, but unless you somehow convince lebron to slither his way into a lakers contract, this doesn't seem possible

[aaron_gray]

Easy, R Kelly averages 20/8 and pisses on everybody, Sacre 15/5/2, Baze 20/6 assists/2 steals, Wiggins 18 and Kobe 20/7. Championship here we come.

[Father Time]

You guys will be jumping for joy when Kobe retires. Lots of hate for our best player, damn. Why do you care whether he shares his opinion publicly or not. IDGAF, personally, the man is entitled to his opinion it effects my life in no tangible way whatsoever. I don't get why fans think players need to "shut up". I also don't understand how Kobe gets so much vitriol on this board. He's stubborn, arrogant, ignorant, selfish, whatever. So what? He's still a Laker. Yet we have bitter ass LAKERS fans criticizing him constantly. You're crying and bitching online won't make him leave the team any faster. How much joy does being so negative give you guys?

[minifang]

He's being unrealistic. We'll be a contender again in two years, which unfortunately is when his contract is up. Maybe then he'll sign on for a lesser amount.

[lakerz12]

When you're talking about money and contracts you must remember, this isn't JUST about winning. It is a business. And Kobe is a big asset to the Laker's business. He brings in more dollars than he costs. Think about that next time you open your mouth about how much Kobe makes. He has made this franchise much more $ than he has ever collected or will collect.

[denimourson]

Please don't trade any draft picks to satisfy Kobe.