RealGM

What is the point of locking a perfectly good thread with good arguments on both sides?

I would've sent this in PM to mod but the feature seems to be shot off. There was good discussion in that thread, and nobody was doing anything against the boards TOS.

It was locked because it made no sense honestly. Both sides ?.............................everybody hated it.

Well ****. I spent a while on that post, would have enjoyed a response.

WFT ! Are you kidding me ?! Man, i'm, speechless !

Listen you, young guy, Kobe at the age of 37 - 39 is gonna be 10x better than anyone at this age !
Man, he's working hard every summer, he knows how to handle his physical state now, he's a jump-shooter, and that doesn't require to penetrate a lot and get hit a lot of times, see LeBron and Wade who at their ages already had serious injuries, especially Wade.

He'll shoot even more from now on, and that'll keep him healthy a lot !
Man, he's just 30 ! 30 ! 30 y e a r s o l d !

If it were LeBron or Wade at this age in this situation, i'd let them go...

But, Kobe, it's like comitting a suicide !

If Bynum's agent will still seek the Max., then he'll go to hell with that Max., because we're weaker defensively without Drew, but still a championship contender with adding key veterans and role players...

Lamar said he wants to finish his career as a Laker ! So Mitch, Jerry Buss and Phil are gonna do by putting him on the bench, the numbers will decrease a bit, so the Lakers will be able to cut from his salary 3, 4 milions.

Plus Radman, Luke - that's already 11M, some of them will go, that's for sure...

It's gonna be fine ! Bynum, Gasol, Kobe, Lamar and Fisher will be there next year...
Some other players should be traded...

I think what you try and do if you're the Laker FO is to offer Kobe a non-max contract for 5 years. Make it maxed for 3 and decline in years 4 and 5. Or, make them incentive based, meaning he only gets maxed in the final 2 or 3 years if the team competes and or qualifies at a certain level, i.e. WCF.

I tend to agree with the OP. I am not a Laker fan, so that probably plays into my bias, but I do see an issue with maxing Kobe until he is 35 or 36 years old. However, if I am a Laker fan or FO person, I would never trade him. If he refuses anything less than max, you probably give it to him, assuming you can project his ability and earning power in those years.

I think Phil 2.0 said it best, why ditch what we have been waiting for the past three or so years, just to start restructuring to get where we are now? Kobe, in my opinion, isn't all about the money. I think he won't ask for more money than he is already making per year now. He isn't all about money, if he is though, then hopefully they televise his games in Europe. But I don't think he is. He'll get enough money in endorsements. He's trying to be the greatest of all time and that starts by getting more rings. Where will he have a better chance to do that then here in LA?

some kobefan. *cough cough* kobehater *cough*

crazyeights wrote:Well ****. I spent a while on that post, would have enjoyed a response.

here's my response

Haha, yeah. I found the OP's username kind of ironic.

[quote="TyCobb"]I think Phil 2.0 said it best, why ditch what we have been waiting for the past three or so years, just to start restructuring to get where we are now? Kobe, in my opinion, isn't all about the money. I think he won't ask for more money than he is already making per year now. He isn't all about money, if he is though, then hopefully they televise his games in Europe. But I don't think he is. He'll get enough money in endorsements. He's trying to be the greatest of all time and that starts by getting more rings. Where will he have a better chance to do that then here in LA?[/quote]

That all depends on this year. If LA wins the title this year, there is NO way Kobe leaves Los Angeles. The chance he will leave period is next to nil. If they win a title this year, there is no chance whatsoever.

However, what if by some chance LA regresses? Say they lose to Houston in the WCF? That is when the IF's start to become worth pondering.

I for one believe LA has the best chance in the West to return to the finals, so the IFs are not worth thinking about until IF / WHEN it actually came to pass.

Kobe IS LA. I cannot see him in another jersey. BUT, and that is a HUGE but, if he felt dissed monetarily and or if LA does not succeed again this year, who knows?

First of all, it makes no sense to "let Kobe go" - he was essential to our three championships and he was essential to our Finals run last year, and in between, he kept our team relevant and competitive, despite having one of the worst rosters in the NBA.

Replace Kobe with even an all-star caliber guard and what do we become? The trail blazers. Nice, young, lots of potential, but far from the favorites to win the title.

The best basketball player on the planet for the past decade is in his prime. One could safely guess this kind of once-in-a-generation player doesn't decline and become useless. Jordan at 40 was still one of the better players in the NBA. For these exceptional athletes, they're just too smart, too experienced, and too physically blessed to succumb to mortal limitations.

Secondly, and more importantly, don't call out moderators and question their decisions by disrespecting them in a thread like this. You can contact them directly - it's sticked at the top of the thread. And if you didn't see it, you need to do more reading and less typing.

So, consider this a warning - any more of these antics will have immediate and serious repercussions. Again, we at realgm encourage discussion and various viewpoints, but backseat-modding is not tolerated, especially in a stunt like this.