Kobe agrees to contact extension with Lakers

[MKG35]

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.

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.

I don't even know why you have to bring this nonsense up.

It's cheaper to rent/lease anyways than to spend 10-20-30 millions on a place in Tokyo or Europe or ... when it's not your main residence and you aren't staying there months at a time.

Just because you got so much money it isn't necessary to buy ridiculous overpriced stuff like that TV. Only rappers like Birdman would get such a thing.


Stop thinking Kobe is taking this deal so he can buy more stuff in the future. Even after his career is over he'll be raking in millions a year.

[monopoman]

Well to be fair most that make a lot of money do enjoy spending it.

I mean, he may not be as extravagant a spender as some but the only rich as **** dude I know that lives a modest life is Warren Buffet.

He has 46 billion but lives like he makes the same amount nearly everyone in America does.

http://www.businessinsider.com/most-fru ... hathaway-1

[righterwriter]

I don't think any stars would choose to play with Kobe even if he only made $5M a year. The dude must have one of the worst reps in the league.

[LegendaryLakers]

as a diehard 25 year old laker fan, some of my earliest memories of Laker basketball are of rookie Kobe. He was by far my favorite player and I really enjoyed everything he gave us, though I was never one to delude myself into thinking those first 3 titles were equal parts Shaq and equal parts Kobe, Kobe remained my favorite player because it felt almost like we grew up together, I got to watch his entire legacy unfold.

Sadly in these last few years I've become less of a fan. His behavior with Dwight was disappointing, you would think after all these years he would of learned to become a more intelligent leader, granted that situation was as much if not more on Dwight, but still I truly believe a greater leader could of made that team into a true contender. Now we have this contract signing, which to me clearly signifies that winning is NOT all that matters to Kobe, not even close. I don't particularly blame him, but the persona the media always spun for him in order to make him likeable was that everything he did was in the belief that it led to what HE thought was the best chance to win. His detractors would always spin it as merely Kobe being selfish and interested in his own personal accolades as much if not more so than winning. I always liked to believe the former, but this contract affirms the latter view point.

As a LAKER fan I hate this deal. It is a disaster in every way imaginable.

DoctorMJ, I agree with pretty much every post in this thread, and to be honest the Laker mods are being almost embarrassingly homerish with their Kobe support. What ever plan there may be or is, the fact remains this contract Hampers it, and in more ways than just the black and white cap space figures

[HB2]

1. Good for Kobe;
2. Lakers' GM needs to see a doctor - I think that head injury might be very serious.

[TheBargnaniRule]

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.

5 rings.

[HB2]

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.

5 rings.

? what you say is that you would pay MJ 57.6 million for 2 years should he come out of retirement tomorrow?

[righterwriter]

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.

5 rings.

Nice to have prime Shaq, Gasol for Kwame, and Phil Jackson as your coach.

What's telling is that despite Kobe's rings most fans think he is a guy who puts himself above the team. This final contract just puts a nail in the coffin of his legacy.

[boateng]

he is not worth that contract based on basketball play like it or not

he should have taken a discount like garnett and duncan did so the lakers can put a team around him. I find it laughable that he will be the highest paid player in the league when he is not the best player in the league and he has just come off injury and is 35.

[Jimmy Recard]

Sorry gotta say it:

Garnett took a serious paycut simply to help his team at age 27.
Duncan NEVER earned more than $23 per mill despite easily having the power to do so.

Kobe meanwhile pushes to remain the highest paid player per year into his late 30s even as its clear the team will go nowhere without signing other major players, and still some will praise him for his will to win above all else.

What exactly would it take to hammer in his extreme level of selfishness to people?

+10000

[kingkirk]

I'd really like to know Kupchak's plan.

For the first time in forever, the Lakers were bound to have a boat load of cap space. Most of the players they have on the roster are expiring and they had huge room to build towards something.

Now, its only a 2 year deal, so its not like they are locked into some lengthy deal, but for me, they're essentially flagging that they have no chance at a title in the next 2 seasons.

Kobe will be making close to 40% of the cap next season. You can proclaim that money is nothing for a team like the Lakers but you can't argue that this deal does lessen the availability of moves it gives the FO.

Its quite simple. The more cap that you have tied up to less players, the more difficult it is for you to do anything of note.

When you add to it that Kobe is coming off an Achilles injury at 35, were are the championship aspirations and the likelihood of these coming from?

With Kobe earning 24 million next season as likely your best player next season at 36, please tell me how this is going to work?

The only one this makes sense for is Kobe Bryant, and good on him. His FO were silly enough to give him this deal. If they give him 2 years 30 million, the majority are likely cool with that. Instead, they give him an extra 20 million.

The Lakers are essentially saying, "Thanks for the memories and the titles. Here is a hansom pay out for your efforts. Enjoy your final seasons on us".

[omfgitseric]

From a business standpoint, this is fantastic. Kobe's name pulls in enough revenue to cover his salary many times over.

[kingkirk]

Let's be real here. Kobe's name pulls in enough revenue to cover his salary many times over.

This is not the issue. Yes, he likely does this, but his contract also reduces the options for the GM to make moves and bring in players for their future.

Hopefully they're not stupid enough to go out an sign Carmelo Anthony for approx 20 mill and have 45 million being chewed up by Bryant and Anthony.

Its just dumb. It really is.

[omfgitseric]

Let's be real here. Kobe's name pulls in enough revenue to cover his salary many times over.

This is not the issue. Yes, he likely does this, but his contract also reduces the options for the GM to make moves and bring in players for their future.

Hopefully they're not stupid enough to go out an sign Carmelo Anthony for approx 20 mill and have 45 million being chewed up by Bryant and Anthony.

Its just dumb. It really is.

Definitely. I'm no LA fan, but I do respect Mitch Kupchak and I believe that he's smarter than that. Even though we saw what happened with Dwight Howard, the trade was still a home run for them.

For the record, I agree with your opinion on this contract being a sort of thank-you-basket type of contract for all he's done for the team. From a basketball standpoint, I'd have Kobe earning half of this new contract.

[righterwriter]

This is the ultimate topic to troll Lakers fans.

[TheHartBreakKid]

Laker fan and huge Kobe fan here.....I haven't read this thread so I don't know if people are actually defending this, but here it goes. I absolutely hate how Kobe gotso much. As Dr.MJ mentioned, it's selfishness pure and simple. There is no way around it. It's Kobe with his huge ego, doing what Kobe with his huge ego does. Kobe was contemplating retirement, so it's not like he needs this extra money. I respect his decision as a man to get as much money as he can while he can, believing he's worth all this, blahblah. But, as others have mentioned, superstars frequently have taken paycuts as they aged, for the sake of the team. KG did it. Duncan did it. Lebron did it in an even younger age. Kobe portrays this image of only caring about winning, but this action clearly proves otherwise. I don't think he's greedy....I just really think it's a pride thing. I think inside Kobe's head, he doesn't want to win if he's not the most paid guy on the team. He doesn't want to win if he's making 15 million while Melo is making 20. I don't know. Honestly I could be wrong but as someone whose followed Kobe's career the past 13 years, read every article on Kobe, watched every interview, that's how I see it. It might be cliche to say this, but I'm not mad at Kobe for doing this. Just disappointing as a Lakers fan. He knew the Lakers will give up whatever he wanted. He knew his value of the franchise, but at the end of the day Kobe finds himself bigger than the franchise. He's still my favorite player, and part of me ecstatic I won't ever have to see him play for another team. I'm just extremely dissapointed, as I honestly thought he would put the 6th ring ahead of money. I respect his decision, but I absolutely hate it. Not that my/other laker fans dissapointment and dislike does, or should mean anything to him. The guy works hard. He believes he's worth this amount of money, and so the do the LAker franchise. At the end of the day, I guess that's all that matters. But my opinion of him (again not that it matters/should matter) is slightly tainted.

That being said, I'm going to enjoy the crap out of the next two years, and I desperately hope Mitch can pull some magic and somehow build a contender out of this team, though I don't see how he can. Also, on an side note, this makes me think that Melo coming to Lakers has a more chance of happening than people think. Despite his selfishness, I don't think Kobe would sign for so much if he didn't think he was going to get a star next to him. But honestly who the hell knows anymore lol

[HotRocks34]

What a gold mine of a thread. I probably wasted at least three hours reading this, but it was worth it.

Couple things here:

* There has never been a player in the history of the league, to my knowledge, who averaged 20.0 PPG or more in his 19th season or beyond. Do I think Kobe will break that mold? Yes. Is it a risky bet to take for someone coming off of major surgery and who will be 36 years old next year? Perhaps. And no, Kobe does not need to score 20.0+ PPG to earn his new contract, IMO. But as Kobe is probably most known as a scorer, looking at how other scorers have fared late in their careers might be instructive to determine where things could be headed for Kobe as a player.

* This season, Kobe Bryant will become the perimeter player with the most career minutes in NBA history to ever start an NBA season. Kidd has like 2200 or so more career minutes on his resume than does Kobe, but he started out last season slightly behind where Kobe is now in career minutes.

* If someone approached Tim Duncan before the start of last season and asked him this question:

Tim, would you feel ok about having taken a pay cut if the end result is to put you in a position in The Finals where if one of two of your teammates makes a free throw (if the two players, combined, simply go 1-2 on two FTA) then you win both a ring and FMVP?

...my guess is that Duncan would answer "yes, I'm good with that."

* If you examine this thread to this point in time, in its totality, the general tone of who is playing "defense" and who is playing "offense" seems fairly clear IMO. Usually when a person or group of people plays "defense," there is a reason why they are playing defense. Or at least a reason why they feel they need to play defense. I'm not saying that the "playing offense" side of the argument here is in the right, but I think there might be a reason why the "defense" side is playing defense, at least on first glance at the details of this contract extension.

My feelings on this matter -- who is playing "defense" and who is playing "offense" in this thread regarding the issue of the contract extension -- are similar to when I read the supposed Instagram message Kobe wrote to the person who questioned his motives or priorities, a supposed message which was posted earlier in the thread.

This column also has the feeling, to me, of what might be termed "playing defense" or "damage control:"

http://yhoo.it/1cMobq4

Between his signature on a two-year, $48.5 million contract extension and a cross-country flight to the East Coast on Monday, Kobe Bryant was left befuddled and bemused by those who declared him greedy and uncaring about chasing championships.

*
*
*

Finally, if you don't like Kobe Bryant or the "myth" that you might feel that has been built up around Kobe Bryant -- and that view has been ably presented in this thread, IMO -- then I would think that you might view this contract extension as something like a "gift from the gods." Because now everything you may have tried to unsuccessfully convince people of in the past regarding Kobe could have become instantaneously easier to get across to those same people going forward.

So, Kobe wins with the big new deal. Kobe Fans win because Kobe remains with the team and he will be (apparently) the highest paid player in the league for the next two years. Kobe Critics win because now they have apparent ammunition with which they can use to try to blast Kobe as a selfish player who really isn't as concerned with winning as he supposedly was made out to be. Lakers Haters win because they feel, it seems, the team will be irrelevant for the next few years. I win because I get to sit back and waste hours reading threads and articles like this one while doing my Michael Jackson impersonation:



The only group of people who apparently may not win with this extension are the Lakers-Not-Kobe-First Fans who may not think this deal is in the best interests of the team.

For this last group of people, you have my sincere sympathies. This contract extension very nearly seemed to be a win-win-win for everyone involved, except for your number.

And though I feel your pain, I'm still going to kick on back, Michael Jackson-style, and chomp on my popcorn while enjoying the festivities as they play themselves out.

[Spanish_Laker]

I don't like this extension at all, to be honest. I know Kobe will always deserve a max contract for everything he has achieved as a Laker, but this expensive extension will certainly blow our hopes of signing two max contracts in the next two offseasons. Furthermore, we don't know yet if Kobe will be the same or not, or if he will be able to stay healthy. I think Mitch should have waited a couple of months before pulling the trigger on Kobe's extension. What if Kobe gets injured again? Our championship hopes for the next two seasons might be gone, because this team is two great players away from championship contention.

[Reservoirdawgs]

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

For whom? Kobe or the Lakers?

The Lakers, clearly. No one should be blasting Kobe...he has made the Lakers a ton of money over the years and he should absolutely try to make as much as he can. The Lakers, on the other hand, just threw away millions of money that they didn't have to. Who in the world was going to give a 36-year old Kobe coming off surgery almost $50 million for two years? No one...the Lakers just needlessly threw away money that they could have spent on other players to compete. Back in 2004 the Lakers chose the younger Kobe over Shaq...the correct decision. I guess the difference this time is that there is no younger player in the wings, so they are content to make money off Kobe while he jacks up 25+ points for the all-time points record. If that is their prerogative then that's fine...it would be the first time I can think of in my lifetime that the Lakers aren't concerned about competing.


Sent from my iPad using RealGM Forums

[NBA4EVA2010]

Finally, if you don't like Kobe Bryant or the "myth" that you might feel that has been built up around Kobe Bryant -- and that view has been ably presented in this thread, IMO -- then I would think that you might view this contract extension as something like a "gift from the gods." Because now everything you may have tried to unsuccessfully convince people of in the past regarding Kobe could have become instantaneously easier to get across to those same people going forward.

So, Kobe wins with the big new deal. Kobe Fans win because Kobe remains with the team and he will be (apparently) the highest paid player in the league for the next two years. Kobe Critics win because now they have apparent ammunition with which they can use to try to blast Kobe as a selfish player who really isn't as concerned with winning as he supposedly was made out to be. Lakers Haters win because they feel, it seems, the team will be irrelevant for the next few years. I win because I get to sit back and waste hours reading threads and articles like this one while doing my Michael Jackson impersonation:



The only group of people who apparently may not win with this extension are the Lakers-Not-Kobe-First Fans who may not think this deal is in the best interests of the team.

For this last group of people, you have my sincere sympathies. This contract extension very nearly seemed to be a win-win-win for everyone involved, except for your number.

And though I feel your pain, I'm still going to kick on back, Michael Jackson-style, and chomp on my popcorn while enjoying the festivities as they play themselves out.