Kobe agrees to contact extension with Lakers

[EArl]

lakers will miss the playoffs

If we do good thing we have our pick this year.

[Yoshun]

Kobe's contracts have never kept the Lakers from putting good teams around him before, why would this contract?

Kobe is going to suprise a lot of people. He's going to put up about 24-26ppg. He's been a jump shooter for years now, he hasn't lost his shot.

This is amazingly.... I don't know what to say.

You want to HELP and FACILITATE your team to make a strong team. A team "can" in theory build a strong contender around Kobe's bloated contract but it's about a .005% chance, or lower. Just because The Lakers were gifted some amazing trades in the past does not mean that foolish expenditures should be allowed, because "eh, it worked out ok last time."

It's a game of odds. Kobe's stacked the deck heavily against a title run, and possibly even the playoffs. When you take so much of a team's salary you are diminishing the team's flexibility, ability to offer that money to others, etc.

Nothing is guaranteed, but good lord people. If you don't accept the fact that Kobe accepting this massive contract decreases the chance of the Lakers winning a title - well, we are done here. Nothing to talk about.

First of all, this is a business, signing Kobe Bryant is good for business. Why can't people here understand that? What should they have done? Let the face of their franchise and a fan favorite walk? Who would they market the team around? Pau Gasol? The potential of getting Carmelo Anthony? It was a no brainer.

Also, I love how my comment of "The Lakers have done it before" some how translates into a lack of understanding of basic math, or how it translates into random probabilities being thrown out (0.005%?). Whenever you sign a big name player it leaves less money for other players, that's a given. A 5 year old could tell you that. However, too many people here expect a Miami Heat scenario for every team now, it's not going to happen.

The Lakers have put good teams around Kobe before at his big salaries, I don't know why people aren't willing to accept that fact. Does it make it harder? Yes, but they've done it.

[Yoshun]

Kobe's contracts have never kept the Lakers from putting good teams around him before, why would this contract?

Kobe is going to suprise a lot of people. He's going to put up about 24-26ppg. He's been a jump shooter for years now, he hasn't lost his shot.

I doubt anyone is worried about his game offensively. It's how bad he'll be playing defensively.

I agree, but his D has been pretty bad for years now. I doubt it will be any better/worse than it has been.

[EArl]

Kobe's contracts have never kept the Lakers from putting good teams around him before, why would this contract?

Kobe is going to suprise a lot of people. He's going to put up about 24-26ppg. He's been a jump shooter for years now, he hasn't lost his shot.

I doubt anyone is worried about his game offensively. It's how bad he'll be playing defensively.

I agree, but his D has been pretty bad for years now. I doubt it will be any better/worse than it has been.

His D cant be worse than Hardens. So I think he will be fine.

[LLcoleJ]

@Kilroy
It is basic logic.

What team do you support? If you don't mind me asking.

It is irrelevant. You are arguing that limiting the resources with which a GM has to work under the salary cap does not impact the ability to make moves that will help the team win.

It is nonsensical.

Well no. I am arguing that a team with alot of resources and that has history of winning and making the right moves are doing so in the same fashion. Yes, the Lakers have to adjust to the new CBA. But that also means other teams do to. Their are always sellers and the Lakers are always buyers. Is this nonsensical to you?

The Lakers made this deal, not Kobe. The Lakers win more than most. Short of you offering up 'plan b" then you are illogically going against all the teams past success on an unknown future or some blue-print that this Laker org. is somehow not following all of a sudden.

[MisterWestside]

Who would they market the team around? Pau Gasol?

You're worried about marketing? Put great teams out there. They will market themselves.

The Lakers have put good teams around Kobe before at his big salaries, I don't know why people aren't willing to accept that fact. Does it make it harder? Yes, but they've done it.

That's because that was a Kobe Bryant who was in his prime. You could pay him his money and still add pieces, because he was young and his production was still top-tier.

You're not getting that player now; a 35 year old SG who's played 50k minutes and coming off an Achilles injury isn't someone to make the highest paid player in the league. Especially when that same player is looking to retire.

[Rasho_libre]

That's the point. LeBron took a paycut at a time when he was many times the player Kobe is now and had earned far less money in his career.

Lebron shaved a couple buck off the top of his contract in an no sales tax state to play with 2 other guys who talk near max deals to play with Lebron. I am sorry but is this scenario possible this off season? What am I missing here.

He also took that deal in a time where he will get a couple more max deals left.

LeBron, Bosh and Wade left $56 mil. on the table to play together. If they all went after their max deals, they could of made approximately $18 mil. more per player, or $4.5 mil. per player per year over the course of a 4-year contract. And it's pretty much assured that at least a couple of them will take bigger cuts the second time around to keep their thing going.

Kobe insisted on being the top paid player in a league when he's not even close to the top player anymore. He's a $15 mil. per guy, at most. The guy who is the top player, is grossly underpaid, but was okay with that for the good of the team. This contract will put Kobe's lifetime earnings from basketball salary alone in excess of $325 mil.! You add up endorsements and he's probably getting close to half a billion in earnings lifetime. Kobe would of looked like a magnanimous idol had he done what Duncan did. Duncan went from earning $23 mil. per on his last contract to making $10 mil. per on his new deal. That's a guy that wants to help the team win. Kobe's deal is absolutely insane, it has no logic to it other than pure unadulterated ego and greed.

Worse part an entire generation let a few puck heads questions his will to win, and idolized this guys. Now the roles have flip flopped and I see a lot of damage control.

[Free Rider]

What actually happens is people tell you based on rumor and supposition that you could have gotten the player at a cheaper rate... At best, it's 20/20 hindsight, at worst it's pure speculation.

With Kobe, there is no unknown... He will make you money as long as he stays on the court, no matter what you're able to pay him...

Teams over-pay because other teams do sneak up behind them all the time.

We've seen this playbook dozens of times and it almost invariably ends up the same. You overpay a guy because you think there's someone waiting in the wings to swoop him up. The end result is that whoever ends up paying typically regrets it because the performance can never match the contract. Kobe at this point in his career simply is worth $48 mill. But you know Kobe wants to retire a Laker, so that's your leverage. He doesn't want to spend the rest of his career on some non-contending team he's never played for. Throw a 2 year/38-40 mil at him and sell him on a long term strategy and see what unfold as the year progresses. But don't just give the damn farm without even a hint of push back.

[microfib4thewin]

First of all, this is a business, signing Kobe Bryant is good for business.

I don't think anyone is arguing it as a business decision. They are arguing that it is a bad basketball decision. The Knicks have historically made decisions based on their bottom line. It gets their fans' hopes up in the short term but they always ended up being mediocre in the long term. That is what the Lakers are going to become if they keep making decisions based on selling expensive tickets as opposed to building a good team.

Again, the last time Kobe won a ring is when he made 23 mil five years ago, and he's going to make more than that next year at the age of 36. How much Kobe makes is definitely a concern for the Lakers if they are truly trying to build a contender.

[Ayt]

What team do you support? If you don't mind me asking.

It is irrelevant. You are arguing that limiting the resources with which a GM has to work under the salary cap does not impact the ability to make moves that will help the team win.

It is nonsensical.

Well no. I am arguing that a team with alot of resources and that has history of winning and making the right moves are doing so in the same fashion. Yes, the Lakers have to adjust to the new CBA. But that also means other teams do to. Their are always sellers and the Lakers are always buyers. Is this nonsensical to you?

The Lakers made this deal, not Kobe. The Lakers win more than most. Short of you offering up 'plan b" then you are illogically going against all the teams past success on an unknown future or some blue-print that this Laker org. is somehow not following all of a sudden.

I'd say an obviously better plan would have been to negotiate a lower contract.

[Champ1on]

Who would they market the team around? Pau Gasol?

You're worried about marketing? Put great teams out there. They will market themselves.

I would normally agree with you but then we have the Spurs..........................

[LLcoleJ]

First of all, this is a business, signing Kobe Bryant is good for business.

I don't think anyone is arguing it as a business decision. They are arguing that it is a bad basketball decision. The Knicks have historically made decisions based on their bottom line. It gets their fans' hopes up in the short term but they always ended up being mediocre in the long term. That is what the Lakers are going to become if they keep making decisions based on selling expensive tickets as opposed to building a good team.

Again, the last time Kobe won a ring is when he made 23 mil five years ago, and he's going to make more than that next year at the age of 36. How much Kobe makes is definitely a concern for the Lakers if they are truly trying to build a contender.

No. The this isn't a Knicks kinda deal. They didn't have a Kobe like player who played for them for 18 years.....

But the actual only way anyone of us can judge what they do is after this. They still have cap room, draft picks,players to resign... the Lakers have more flexibility then they have had in a long time.

[LLcoleJ]

I'd say an obviously better plan would have been to negotiate a lower contract.

For whom? Kobe or the Lakers?

[Effigy]

Love the deal. I don't want to see Kobe in another uniform, but I also don't want the Lakers to contend or get a high draft pick.

Check.
Check.
And Check!

[MisterWestside]

I would normally agree with you but then we have the Spurs..........................

If you think they're not the marketable type, imagine then if they actually sucked

[BattleTested]

sometimes money is more important then anything considering the injury he just came off.

Not when you have hundreds of millions of dollars in the bank. Seriously, making 10-15 million dollars a year vs 20-25 million dollars a year won't change any lifestyles when you're in the tax bracket he's in. He's got his family covered for multiple generations. Where this will make a difference is in the flexibility it gives his team. This overpriced contract markedly lowers his chance of winning another championship.

As a Lakers fan and long-time Kobe Bryant fan I'm pretty disgusted that he didn't at least try to go the Tim Duncan route. The difference between #5 and #6 should be much more important than the difference between $220 million and $240 million. Obviously it's his decision, but from my perspective this is a black mark on his legacy as a basketball player and as a winner.

[monopoman]

sometimes money is more important then anything considering the injury he just came off.

Not when you have hundreds of millions of dollars in the bank. Seriously, making 10-15 million dollars a year vs 20-25 million dollars a year won't change any lifestyles when you're in the tax bracket he's in. He's got his family covered for multiple generations. Where this will make a difference is in the flexibility it gives his team. This overpriced contract markedly lowers his chance of winning another championship.

As a Lakers fan and long-time Kobe Bryant fan I'm pretty disgusted that he didn't at least try to go the Tim Duncan route. The difference between #5 and #6 should be much more important than the difference between $220 million and $240 million. Obviously it's his decision, but from my perspective this is a black mark on his legacy as a basketball player and as a winner.

Hey maybe Kobe wants a summer home in Tokyo, land costs $14000 per square meter in the best areas of Tokyo. If he wants a 2000 square foot home in the heart of Tokyo its gonna cost him big.

Kobe can also watch TV on this with those extra millions.

http://thebillionaireshop.com/products/ ... rose-hd-tv

If you buy that TV you need the audio to go with it obviously.

http://news.cnet.com/8301-13645_3-10303565-47.html

Crap just buying that summer home in Tokyo and that sound system would run him easily 10-20 million without breaking a sweat. Remember folks you never realize how poor you are until you really start making some freaking real money.

[BattleTested]

Hey maybe Kobe wants a summer home in Tokyo, land costs $1200 per square meter in the best areas of Tokyo. If he wants a 2000 square foot home in the heart of Tokyo its gonna cost him big.

Kobe can also watch TV on this with those extra millions.

http://thebillionaireshop.com/products/ ... rose-hd-tv

If you buy that TV you need the audio to go with it obviously.

http://news.cnet.com/8301-13645_3-10303565-47.html

Crap just buying that summer home in Tokyo and that sound system would run him easily 10-20 million without breaking a sweat. Remember folks you never realize how poor you are until you really start making some freaking real money.

This is supposed to be the most determined, hardest working, winning-obsessed dude in the NBA. Obviously these titles are hyperbole, but I gotta think a 6th title is more important than a Tokyo home and a TV to Kobe Bryant. I'm sure he'd say it is, I'm also fairly certain he'd feel in his heart that it was. But his recent actions have made it clear that that's probably not the reality of the situation.

I foolishly thought that Kobe would have considered a significantly higher chance of winning another championship worth 5 or 10 million dollars. Guess I was wrong. Honestly I'm more disappointed than anything. This feels like the first half of Game 7 in 2010, when it was clear the guy just didn't understand what it would take to achieve his goal of being the greatest winner of the modern era. As much as it pains me to admit, Simmons was right. Dude wants to win, but only if he can do so on his own terms. He only wants the rings as a direct result of his individual ability and effort. This is one of several times he has sacrificed championships for his personal legacy.

Ironically enough, this ultimately will doom that legacy. It will keep him from winning on the level he should have won. But he's been in a position and capitalized so many times, there are few people on the earth who could tell him this and not be told off. 5 rings allows him to brush off these criticisms as jealousy.

I really wish someone he respected with a championship pedigree would pull him aside and tell him, "hey, if you really want to be as great as you keep saying you want to be, you have to sacrifice your own glory. You have to truly put the team first. I know you do this on occasion, and have done so in big moments, but you have to do it consistently. **** statistics. You don't suck at last second shots because you're a choker or the advanced stats guys are out of touch. You suck in that moment because you try too hard to make legacy-building hero shots. As opposed to making the right move for the win, you make what your ego perceives as the right move for your brand, and at the end of the day you're just shooting yourself in the foot. The more you focus on the success of your team, the more successful you become as an individual." ****, I'm sure people have probably have tried to tell him this. I just wish it would stick.

Maybe I'm looking at things in the wrong context. Maybe this is just fundamentally who Kobe Bryant is as a player. I mean, dude is one of the few legitimate legends we have in sports right now. He's one of the 10 basketball players who has ever lived. It's very possible that the positives wouldn't exist without the negatives. That the extreme confidence that makes him great is ultimately the same confidence that creates these situations. Honestly, that's probably the case, and I'm being unrealistic. As a Lakers fan though, as someone who has idolized the guy for over half of my life, this is really disappointing. I expected more out of him.

[monopoman]

Dude the TV is made of alligator leatherskin and encased in diamonds I mean how baller is that.

I would not be surprised to walk into Kobe's house and see that ridiculous TV in it.

[kingkirk]

Their is no logical argument from a basketball perspective as to why this make any sense for the Lakers.

I'm glad Kobe will retire a Laker and happy that he will be in the league for another 2 years but paying 48 million for 2 years to a 35 year old coming off an Achilles injury is lunacy from a basketball decision.

You cn argue all you like how it makes sense from a financial/business perspective, but having one player eating up so much of the cap isn't exactly great cap management.

I'm sure it will be spun in some way that it is, but it really isn't.