Henry Abbot: Lakers FO can't wait for Kobe to retire

G35 · Post #181 » by **G35** » Mon Oct 20, 2014 5:11 pm

Haven't read all the replies so I may be covering old ground but this isn't Kobe's fault the Lakers are in this position, it's bad luck, missed opportunities, and timing which every franchise goes through. When a star begins to e.g. post 30 years of age, the team has to start finding that 2nd or replacement star.

- Andrew Bynum was suppose to be the next Lakers big man. He just fell apart.

- The CP3 trade. That went through. The NBA revoked it. How often does that happen? CP3 would be a great building block and would bring other free agents.

- the Dwight fiasco. Trading for Dwight has been on the table for a long time. You can attribute some of the Dwight leaving to Kobe, because he probably did not massage Howard's ego and they didn't get along on because of personality. However, Dwight was injured, came back did not perform as he could have and the whole year was bad. Dwight left for a situation he thought was better. Look at the Rockets now. Are they really contenders and they are losing free agents and not bringing in talent as well. As bad as it looks for the Lakers I'm glad they do not have Howard. He is not a winning element at this stage of his career.

- The Steve Nash contract has been just a much of a anchor on the Lakers salary cap as Kobe. Nash has contributed less as a Laker than Kobe has the past two years and that's saying something since Kobe only played six games last year.

The Lakers are not going to be major players until after the 2015/16 season and the front office already knows that. They just need to draft smartly and find opportunity where they can, it's all they can do right now.....

mhi · Post #182 » by **mhi** » Mon Oct 20, 2014 5:13 pm

I mean it doesn't take an "expose" for anyone to see that Kobe's the reason All star FAs have shunned the Lakers in the recent years.

The LAL's biggest worry right now should be what would they do if Kobe decided he wanted to keep playing after his current deal expires.

Br0ken_Sp0ke · Post #183 » by **Br0ken_Sp0ke** » Mon Oct 20, 2014 5:27 pm

Online version of the article has been uploaded to ESPN's website

http://espn.go.com/espn/feature/story/_/id/11717596/is-kobe-bryant-reason-los-angeles-lakers-downfall

HeatFanSince87 · Post #184 » by **HeatFanSince87** » Mon Oct 20, 2014 5:37 pm

TheKingofSting wrote:They should have amnestied him.

Mark... Mark Cuban is that you?

Mirjalovic · Post #185 » by **Mirjalovic** » Mon Oct 20, 2014 5:38 pm

mhi wrote:I mean it doesn't take an "expose" for anyone to see that Kobe's the reason All star FAs have shunned the Lakers in the recent years.

The LAL's biggest worry right now should be what would they do if Kobe decided he wanted to keep playing after his current deal expires.

Who exactly that all star FAs that you mention ?

Didnt all star FAs shunned the Spurs too in the recent years ?

Cycklops · Post #186 » by **Cycklops** » Mon Oct 20, 2014 5:51 pm

Looks like Kobe has now made enemies with the entirety of ESPN as well. They posted the video of him getting crossed by Alec Burk and mentioned his player ranking.

Post #187 » by **Capn'O** » Mon Oct 20, 2014 5:55 pm

Rockmaninoff wrote:Kobe for Amare works. Who says no?

The Knicks, I would hope.

Post #188 » by **Capn'O** » Mon Oct 20, 2014 5:55 pm

Funny thing is, they couldn't wait to resign him. The Lakers FO can cry a damn river but bottom line - Jimmy needs to learn how to lead like his father. At least be competent.

Bryant2Shaq · Post #189 » by **Bryant2Shaq** » Mon Oct 20, 2014 5:58 pm

What FA besides LeBron would have helped deliver a title with an old/injured kobe? not singing bosh/melo ect is no big deal. Howard isn't close to what he once was and not paying him max money to lose in the first round is probably a good thing...CP3 veto is the real downfall of the lakers and it had nothing to do with kobe, set them back 10 years.

Louie_Ruckuz · Post #190 » by **Louie_Ruckuz** » Mon Oct 20, 2014 6:06 pm

The medias bias towards Kobe is evident. The whole CP3 deal getting vetoed is the reason why the Lakers are in this situation. They bounced back getting Howard but what has Howard done? As good as he is, he's not someone who will get you a ring. STOP BLAMING KOBE lol Ramon Sessions really? They got Nash right after which was great move at that time. Where the Lakers messed up was getting Mike No D Antoni, horrible coach and that had nothing to do with Kobe.

NashtyNas · Post #191 » by **NashtyNas** » Mon Oct 20, 2014 6:14 pm

Pharmcat wrote:they shouldn't have given him that extension, it was a horrible deal and ruined their cap space to attract multiple stars this past offseason

Based on "multiple FO & agent sources," that wouldn't matter. People don't want to play with KOBE - it has nothing to do with his contract. The Lakers had more than enough money to go after max guys and pay them the max they wanted. The problem isn't creating the cap space - it's attracting FA's and apparently Kobe is making that impossible.

He's always been that way, but in his prime, he could get you rings. Now, he's just a bitter old man who hasn't played in years and all he cares about is his numbers, on and off the court. Winning isn't a priority with this squad and no one wants to be subjected to being second fiddle to Kobe at this point in time. That is why Dwight left, and that is why neither Carmelo nor Bosh were really interested in coming to LA.

John Long · Post #192 » by **John Long** » Mon Oct 20, 2014 6:15 pm

Poor journalism at its best, ESPN should be ashamed of themselves.

Post #193 » by **LLcoleJ** » Mon Oct 20, 2014 6:35 pm

I_Socrates wrote:
Pharmcat wrote:they shouldn't have given him that extension, it was a horrible deal and ruined their cap space to attract multiple stars this past offseason

Based on "multiple FO & agent sources," that wouldn't matter. People don't want to play with KOBE - it has nothing to do with his contract. The Lakers had more than enough money to go after max guys and pay them the max they wanted. The problem isn't creating the cap space - it's attracting FA's and apparently Kobe is making that impossible.

He's always been that way, but in his prime, he could get you rings. Now, he's just a bitter old man who hasn't played in years and all he cares about is his numbers, on and off the court. Winning isn't a priority with this squad and no one wants to be subjected to being second fiddle to Kobe at this point in time. That is why Dwight left, and that is why neither Carmelo nor Bosh were really interested in coming to LA.

So in summary. The first year the Lakers actually have cap-space. Bosh and Carmelo choose to take more cap-space form their current teams as opposed to taking less to come play with bitter Kobe. ( Also, they only had cap-space for 1 of them)

EArl · Post #194 » by **EArl** » Mon Oct 20, 2014 6:35 pm

Cycklops wrote:Looks like Kobe has now made enemies with the entirety of ESPN as well. They posted the video of him getting crossed by Alec Burk and mentioned his player ranking.

I think he will live. ESPN is disliked by a lot of people.

sfernald · Post #195 » by **sfernald** » Mon Oct 20, 2014 6:50 pm

Say what you want about Kobe, but that contract is not that bad at all. Kobe has been historically so underpaid for his productivity it's insane. Look at the numbers:

Season; Bryant's salary.

1996-97; $1,015,000;

1997-98; $1,167,240;

1998-99; $1,319,000;

1999-00; $9,000,000;

2000-01; $10,130,000;

2001-02; $11,250,000;

2002-03; $12,375,000;

2003-04; $13,500,000;

2004-05; $14,175,000;

2005-06; $15,946,875;

2006-07; $17,718,750;

2007-08; $19,490,625;

2008-09; $21,262,500;

2009-10; $23,034,375;

2010-11; $24,806,250;

2011-12; $25,244,493;

2012-13; $27,849,149;

2013-14; $30,453,805;

2014-15; $23,500,000;

2015-16; $25,000,000;

Kobe's 10th year in the league he averaged 35.4 points per game and made just $15,946,875. Look at the first three years where he made just a million a year.

abark · Post #196 » by **abark** » Mon Oct 20, 2014 8:05 pm

Louie_Ruckuz wrote:The medias bias towards Kobe is evident. The whole CP3 deal getting vetoed is the reason why the Lakers are in this situation. They bounced back getting Howard but what has Howard done? As good as he is, he's not someone who will get you a ring. STOP BLAMING KOBE lol Ramon Sessions really? They got Nash right after which was great move at that time. Where the Lakers messed up was getting Mike No D Antoni, horrible coach and that had nothing to do with Kobe.

So Dwight is someone that won't get you a ring but Chris Paul is? Dwight has at least made it to the finals, while Paul has never been past the second round.

Cycklops · Post #197 » by **Cycklops** » Mon Oct 20, 2014 8:54 pm

EArl wrote:
Cycklops wrote:Looks like Kobe has now made enemies with the entirety of ESPN as well. They posted the video of him getting crossed by Alec Burk and mentioned his player ranking.

I think he will live. ESPN is disliked by a lot of people.

The key phrase there was "as well."

EArl · Post #198 » by **EArl** » Mon Oct 20, 2014 9:14 pm

abark wrote:
Louie_Ruckuz wrote:The medias bias towards Kobe is evident. The whole CP3 deal getting vetoed is the reason why the Lakers are in this situation. They bounced back getting Howard but what has Howard done? As good as he is, he's not someone who will get you a ring. STOP BLAMING KOBE lol Ramon Sessions really? They got Nash right after which was great move at that time. Where the Lakers messed up was getting Mike No D Antoni, horrible coach and that had nothing to do with Kobe.

So Dwight is someone that won't get you a ring but Chris Paul is? Dwight has at least made it to the finals, while Paul has never been past the second round.

dwight was an integral part to that Magic run, but I don't think he gets the majority of the credit for it. That magic team had Jameer Nelson and Hedo Turkoglu running that team.

theforumblue · Post #199 » by **theforumblue** » Mon Oct 20, 2014 9:15 pm

abark wrote:
Louie_Ruckuz wrote:The medias bias towards Kobe is evident. The whole CP3 deal getting vetoed is the reason why the Lakers are in this situation. They bounced back getting Howard but what has Howard done? As good as he is, he's not someone who will get you a ring. STOP BLAMING KOBE lol Ramon Sessions really? They got Nash right after which was great move at that time. Where the Lakers messed up was getting Mike No D Antoni, horrible coach and that had nothing to do with Kobe.

So Dwight is someone that won't get you a ring but Chris Paul is? Dwight has at least made it to the finals, while Paul has never been past the second round.

if cp3 deal had gone through lakers would've likely landed both cp3 AND dwight, which is what the other owners were afraid of.

almatic · Post #200 » by **almatic** » Mon Oct 20, 2014 9:20 pm

sfernald wrote:Kobe's 10th year in the league he averaged 35.4 points per game and made just $15,946,875. Look at the first three years where he made just a million a year.

How are his 1st 3 years relevant? Everyone HAS to sign a rookie-scale contract into the league. Not to mention he was a bench player & combined for 7 games started in the first 2 seasons...