Kobe agrees to contact extension with Lakers

[Doctor MJ]

You can't sell a rebuilding plan to Laker fans while keeping the ticket prices high. Not lowering the ticket prices was probably a major reason why the Lakers FO decided to extend Kobe.

When I hear this, I think of Isiah and the Knicks.

[Blame Rasho]

He could have taken less like many of his peers have done so... he didn't. The Lakers and their fans don't mind... so why should we give a crap about it.

Logic tells us that it will only make it harder for them to sign or trade for impact players... so that is that...

[Doctor MJ]

Regarding Kobe, I think people don't know him well if they think that he thinks he can't take this team to a chip. Yes, delusional, but playing way too many minutes and not thinking he was going to get injured at his age was delusional too. That's just him.

Kobe demanded a trade before when the Lakers were as quick as he liked getting him a star to play with. He has to know he can't do it alone. There's delusional ("I'm still the best in the world") and then there's absolutely nuts ("I know I demanded out before when I was in this situation, but now I'm sure I can do it".)

He has to know he needs help to win a chip, and he has to know that being the highest paid player in the game isn't conducive to doing this.

[microfib4thewin]

There is no way to spin this in a positive manner. The master plan was supposed to be 2014, now the Lakers will most likely be in limbo for the next two years with a 36-37 year old Kobe + whatever we get from the max FA capspace. Old Kobe + max FA or old Kobe + two good role players is hardly a good core to contend with. Kobe can try all he wants but at this point he will need much more help than this if the Lakers wanted to go anywhere.

The Lakers may have just wasted the next two years with this extension.

[Rasho_libre]

Sounds good to me. What do you got?

I'm not a basketball player I can't win titles.

None of us are. So when you mock people or Kobe for saying "5 rings" what do you have as a fan to better that?

Or are you just a fan that continually enjoys the self -pity party of your team not doing anything meaningful?

That's cool, just don't keep telling me how this guys desire to win is unparalleled. Td, kg, dirk those guys are true testaments to players that will do anything including taking a pay cut at an old age to set their teams up with best financial situation for the team. Every day it seems more and more like his true desire is chasing the scoring record books not winning the sixth title. And that's exactly what most people are calling him out for in this thread not just me.

[Ozark]

Brilliant, just beautifully brilliant move by the Lakers.

Kobe is just an overall intangible, mentally, physically, and most of all (falsetto) SPIRITUALLY!!!!!!!1

He is a competitor, he is chasing the legacy of Jordan, while Lebron and Durant are chasing the gosts of Chucky Brown and Adam Morison.

Cuz it's the rings that count, at the end of the day, week, month or year.

At the end of your life, you don't sit back and ask about "did my team pay the luxury tax?" or "did my team reach it's maximum potentital"

You don't even ask "was I a good person", or "did I raze a good family?"

You ask yourselves, "did Kobe play for my team?"

That is all that matters. That guy can game, like, I mean he shoot, and shoot an shoot. He score. He Kebo.

[LLcoleJ]

I don't really get this thinking. In some other business it might make sense, but in following the NBA we basically see the cards that are out there.

No. we don't unfortunatley. We can see the dollars ( contracts , caps) but we don't have any idea about what each team does from a business standpoint. We don't see their financials, we don't talk to agents, we don't talk to players, we no what trades could of happen and we don't know what trades could happen. We look at this from a vary myopic POV.

When I say I don't "see the plan", what I mean is that I look at the realistic options from this point onward, and none of them seem likely to succeed the way the Lakers want to succeed.

Would you see a better plan if it was.. :The Lakers have 50 million in cap-space after they renounce Kobe. They hope to sign Melo and Lebron. <- is that a plan that makes sense? Or the Lakers sit Kobe for the rest of the season and tank command for Wiggins. <- another iffy plan that could really set them back even more.

I could be misjudging it. It's not impossible that the Lakers could sign Durant & Love in 2016 on a team that basically has nothing else (Kobe is not a selling point for guys like that), and if a team were to pull it off, the Lakers would be the one I'd bet on, but it just seems desperate in a way that I don't recall the Lakers being.

I don't think this move was desperate at all. They were in the drivers seat. They have been known to throw alot of crazy money at players. They could have had cap space and hoped to get Kobe at 10-15 after they renounce him. Risky... yes. Desperate... I don't agree.

The last time the Lakers felt like they were just "waiting" for the big opportunity was 20 years ago, and at the time that looked like a team making the playoffs with ease without spending big money on any one player. That holding pattern between the Magic & Shaq era is one of the things I point to to emphasize just how the Lakers FO is.

But this time doesn't feel like that one at all. It feels like they are paying a guy big money just to dupe the fans into not being mad at them.

The Lakers have more incentive now to make a contender than ever. Their TV deal is massive and the money in sports today is, well, insane.

That being said, I am fine with Kobe being a Laker next year and I would be ok if the FO decided to move on with him in the summer. They made a move based on the information they have and their financial interests. If you think this was an appease the fans move, then ok. Personally, I think everything they do is to appease the fans. Which is pretty much been spending money, getting players and winning. They think Kobe is part of that plan still and I am going to see what they have left up their sleeve. I still watch every game with or without Kobe and with out or without being atop of the power rankings. I don't see desperation or duping.. sorry that happened to you.

[Doctor MJ]

As someone who isn't thrilled about this, I think people are focusing too much on the now and not letting things play out. Saying things like "I can't see the plan" is silly. There may very well be a plan, which will start to materialize sometime this year, next year or the year after. The less obvious route could actually be a good sign, the Lakers seem to like to pull off deals out of nowhere.

The reason they seem like they are out of nowhere is because they emerged based on what was happening with other teams. The Lakers traded for Gasol when they did not because Kobe demanded it, but because in the 3 years prior they had had no opportunities anywhere near that good.

I mean, give the Lakers credit for making that happen, but it's not a given they can do it again and yet it feels like an assumption that it will miraculously happen is the only reason to think the next 2+ years will amount to anything. Seems like a long window to just hope for a miracle.

[Doctor MJ]

Him taking this amount of money makes it tougher for the Lakes to get anyone else before this contract is up, at which point he'll have been in the league for 20 years. This is, in other words, all there is. Maybe Kobe keeps going after 20, but at this stage of his career he can't really bide his time.

Anyone else? Or 2 anyone else's?

Whoever and however many of these "elses" there are, Kobe taking more money doesn't help the process.

[CharlieMurphy]

I'm not a basketball player I can't win titles.

None of us are. So when you mock people or Kobe for saying "5 rings" what do you have as a fan to better that?

Or are you just a fan that continually enjoys the self -pity party of your team not doing anything meaningful?

That's cool, just don't keep telling me how this guys desire to win is unparalleled. Td, kg, dirk those guys are true testaments to players that will do anything including taking a pay cut at an old age to set their teams up with best financial situation for the team. Every day it seems more and more like his true desire is chasing the scoring record books not winning the sixth title. And that's exactly what most people are calling him out for in this thread not just me.

From Kobe's perspective, there's not much difference between taking 25 million in CA and taking 19 million in TX (Dirk). After taxes Kobe's looking at maybe ~12 million for both of those years.

[Mr MoJo Risin]

Him taking this amount of money makes it tougher for the Lakes to get anyone else before this contract is up, at which point he'll have been in the league for 20 years. This is, in other words, all there is. Maybe Kobe keeps going after 20, but at this stage of his career he can't really bide his time.

Anyone else? Or 2 anyone else's?

Whoever and however many of these "elses" there are, Kobe taking more money doesn't help the process.

Lets wait and see how things unfold before we jump to this conclusion.

[Ozark]

Honestly, though, as a Thunder fan if someone today offered me Kobe for the rest of the year as a rental v. Derrick Rose, I would take Derrick Rose.

This is because he makes less money and wouldn't actually get on the floor to make the team worse.

[Rasho_libre]

None of us are. So when you mock people or Kobe for saying "5 rings" what do you have as a fan to better that?

Or are you just a fan that continually enjoys the self -pity party of your team not doing anything meaningful?

That's cool, just don't keep telling me how this guys desire to win is unparalleled. Td, kg, dirk those guys are true testaments to players that will do anything including taking a pay cut at an old age to set their teams up with best financial situation for the team. Every day it seems more and more like his true desire is chasing the scoring record books not winning the sixth title. And that's exactly what most people are calling him out for in this thread not just me.

From a Kobe's perspective, there's not much difference between taking 25 million in CA and taking 19 million in TX (Dirk). After taxes Kobe's looking at maybe ~12 million for both of those years.

Get outta town that's worse than here in Toronto. See the conservatives at least have that aspect right.

[Bruh Man]

How often does taking less money pan out to a championship? People were saying the same thing about Kobe's current contract and Lakers landed cp3 which got vetoed then they went on to get Nash and Howard.

[mopper8]

He could have taken less like many of his peers have done so... he didn't.

-snip-

Logic tells us that it will only make it harder for them to sign or trade for impact players... so that is that...

I don't get why this is so controversial but apparently it is.

[Maroko]

Kobe Bryant tells Yahoo Sports: "This wasn't a negotiation."

[LLcoleJ]

I'm not a basketball player I can't win titles.

None of us are. So when you mock people or Kobe for saying "5 rings" what do you have as a fan to better that?

Or are you just a fan that continually enjoys the self -pity party of your team not doing anything meaningful?

That's cool, just don't keep telling me how this guys desire to win is unparalleled. Td, kg, dirk those guys are true testaments to players that will do anything including taking a pay cut at an old age to set their teams up with best financial situation for the team. Every day it seems more and more like his true desire is chasing the scoring record books not winning the sixth title. And that's exactly what most people are calling him out for in this thread not just me.

that's a bunch of BS. haha.... if Kobe took a paycut and he said he was gunning for 6 you would mock him for chasing MJ. The fact of the matter is Lakers have a lot of money, Kobe knows this. TD or KG don't take pay cuts like they did if they play for the Lakers. Taking a pay cut is not commendable in any business. Taking less money for a company you enjoy working for is entirely different. TD's name get's thrown around alot, but the reality is he is comfortable in SA and they are a small market team with limited cash flexibility.

oh and I don't tell you that his desire to win is unparalleled. I will tell you that the Lakers FO's desire to win is though and that is proven.

[Rasho_libre]

Not talking about you Phil, you're actually a quality poster. But I just don't wanna hear how much this guys wants to win anymore from "his" fan-base when all evidence proves he doesn't always put winning titles first. Even if you guys made a mistake with this move it's a matter of time till you guys replace him with the next one in line soon anyways.

[Ayt]

Anyone else? Or 2 anyone else's?

Whoever and however many of these "elses" there are, Kobe taking more money doesn't help the process.

Lets wait and see how things unfold before we jump to this conclusion.

It isn't any type of assumption. It is a fact.

[OneWhoKnocks]

This makes no sense whatsoever. 36 yrs old torn achilles not even played a single game yet and gets a max 2 year extension.

R.I.P Lakers until the 2017 season I guess.