Kobe agrees to contact extension with Lakers

[LLcoleJ]

No. My position isn’t that its impossible. My position is that they could have waited to know what kind of Bryant was coming back at 35 off an Achilles injury whilst offering him a lesser deal that would still pay him a damn heap that allows them to still be in play for 2015 whilst also giving them greater flexibility in the now.

It certainly makes you wonder why they did it now. I was surprised it happen before he got back on the court.
But does that mean they have a plan or just went batish crazy?

Its simple maths. If Kobe earns 15 million next season instead of 24, isn’t that more flexible for the Lakers and improves their chances of winning next season as well as 2015+? -

It is simple math. But, I am not arguing that. I never once said even if Kobe gets paid 24 million a year they still have the flexibility of him making 15 million. But they will have some cap flexibility and I think they have a plan that doesn't mean .500 seasons for years to come. We disagree here but I get the math side. But mind you there is no 15 million dollar contract for this argument. That is just something you are throwing out there.

Your position is that you’re fine with this deal because if Mitch is cool with it, Phil XI is as well. You also think this moves doesn’t hamper the Lakers position now or beyond and you expect the Lakers to continue to retool next season on the basis that they will keep building towards sound basketball and business decisions in unison. You trust the organisation to make the right call on this and you will back them in given their history.

To me, that is your position.

From my position I am going to break it down so we are clear and their is no more confusion.

Your position is that you’re fine with this deal because if Mitch is cool with it, Phil XI is as well

Kinda but it's not that simple. It's not that I am fine with the deal. I just accept it. I accept it because I believe in the organization as whole ( not just Mitch) and that they are a team that makes moves deliberately and for a purpose.

Side note: I had Kobe getting a 20 million a season deal from the Lakers because I figured they would pay him to retire with them. Again, I thought it was going to happen in the summer. It did not and I was surprised but not shocked by what he got.

You also think this moves doesn’t hamper the Lakers position now or beyond and you expect the Lakers to continue to retool next season on the basis that they will keep building towards sound basketball and business decisions in unison

I don't think the moves won't hamper the Lakers position. It will, but they still have money and options. I have said from the beginning it will be a challenge. I do believe they will keep making basketball moves with the goal getting back to contention before 2015. Is that a leap of faith? Sure.

You trust the organisation to make the right call on this and you will back them in given their history.

absolutely.

[HotRocks34]

Rockets fans think they have something over the Lakers franchise because they signed that big man who isn't worth max money and can't hit a free throw to save his life. In all reality, that franchise in Houston comparatively speaking is nothing more than a cockroach when put in the same sentence as the Lakers.

Us Lakers fans, laugh and then point at the rafters above the Staples Center court and typically the Rockets fan shuts up.

I think you and GlennQuagmire both may misunderstand my take on the situation.

Because I don't have a ton emotionally invested in this situation, the Kobe extension decision, I just get to kick back and enjoy everyone's reactions to the situation. Including, for example, GlennQuagmire's. And I liked his Michael Jackson spin gif.

I'm not looking at this as a Bitter Rockets Fan. I'm looking at it more from the Detached Observer perspective, and the reactions from all sides, as typified by this thread, are just fun for me to watch.

This thread has delivered, in huge fashion IMO, because so many people seem to be so emotionally invested in this situation. Some of the people whom I consider to be the better posters on this board have invested a substantial amount of emotional and intellectual capital in this thread. That, alone, would make the thread epic to me. When you throw in people like Henry Abbott and Adrian Wojnarowski, among many others, kind of playing their expected (or at least what I expect of them) roles as this story unfolds, the entire episode is just incredibly enjoyable for me to watch and consume.

I've done my work on this board before going over media narratives, talking about the Kobe Myth, all of that. I kind of let that go awhile ago, at least mostly. I just lost interest in the subject or subjects. My emotional investment in the subject of Kobe and/or the Lakers just ain't what it used to be.

This contract extension matter, however, has seemingly brought out all the passion on the Kobe/Lakers subject among others. My own sense of the situation is that Kobe/Lakers Non-Fans sense a bit of blood in the water and are circling and looking for their angle of attack. And it seems like Kobe/Lakers Fans have a sense of that situation and are mounting their defense. But, I should add, there are apparently a number of Lakers fans who aren't thrilled with this extension.

So, for me, this is kind of like watching your son hitting on some girls at a bar and thinking "I remember when I used to do that." I'm kind of vicariously living through this thread, as regards my past, even though my own emotional intensity about the situation isn't what it once was.

Will Kobe and the Lakers fall on their faces after the big extension? Will the Lakers and Kobe have the last laugh after the big extension?

I don't know, and I don't really care right now. I'm just enjoying watching the trains go by in this thread. It's been awhile since I can recall the train movements being this fast, furious and emotion-laden.

[defhalotones]

A more important question that I think hasn't been touched on:
Will Kobe allow the Lakers to sign 2 max players?

It hasn't been touched on because it's a pointless question. The Lakers had no shot at signing 2 max FA's while retaining Kobe.

I'm not totally sold on him accepting a third banana role for his last couple of years.

Why would he need to accept a 3rd banana role? Behind who exactly? The only max player that the Lakers have any chance of landing is Melo and Kobe is still a better offensive player.

... or are you one of those people who thinks an offensively limited player such as Dwight should be a 1st option over Kobe?

1.) Umm, they certainly had the chance to get 2 max players before Kobe signed for $48 million...
2.) So you're totally excluding any trade, not just free agents? You know, how they got Dwight.
"Offensively limited Dwight." How about defensive liability Kobe?

Considering most/all players coming off a meniscus tear are never the same. Especially with Kobe; given his age. If he doesn't come back elite, then he will definitely NOT be top banana if LAL brings in a couple of max players.

[TheGarden]

I think Kobe can be a 20/5/5 guy on 45/38/80 for the next 2 years with solid defense

He's going to be the #1 though so you either use that cap space for depth all around or very very good #2

[Shot Clock]

A more important question that I think hasn't been touched on:
Will Kobe allow the Lakers to sign 2 max players?

It hasn't been touched on because it's a pointless question. The Lakers had no shot at signing 2 max FA's while retaining Kobe.

I'm not totally sold on him accepting a third banana role for his last couple of years.

Why would he need to accept a 3rd banana role? Behind who exactly? The only max player that the Lakers have any chance of landing is Melo and Kobe is still a better offensive player.

... or are you one of those people who thinks an offensively limited player such as Dwight should be a 1st option over Kobe?

1.) Umm, they certainly had the chance to get 2 max players before Kobe signed for $48 million...
2.) So you're totally excluding any trade, not just free agents? You know, how they got Dwight.
"Offensively limited Dwight." How about defensive liability Kobe?

Considering most/all players coming off a meniscus tear are never the same. Especially with Kobe; given his age. If he doesn't come back elite, then he will definitely NOT be top banana if LAL brings in a couple of max players.

Well Kobe isn't the one with a meniscus tear, Rose is.

[Volcano]

I'd like to see him turn himself more into a spot-up shooter + playmaker. 20/5/8 with 2+ three's per game. Screw defense and go for steals. It would help my fantasy team a lot =D

[fluffernutter]

The elephant in the room - rather the 7 footer - is Tim Duncan. A lot of people have brought him up, myself included, and it's probably worthwhile to look back on what he did.

Duncan took a lot less, a LOT less, tens of millions less, in order to help his team build towards something that MIGHT be another championship run. Nobody really gave the Spurs a real shot at getting there, or being a basket away from winning it. Yeah, they are the Spurs. They will get past the first round, probably the second, but if you look at the per-season predictions nobody had Spurs the likely winner.

Duncan's getting older, everyone is older, health is an issue, same stuff as always. One freak injury and the house of cards topples.

Duncan never could say to himself, or his fellow players, "guys, I'm taking a pay cut because if I do we will win the championship." All he could say is, "I care enough about winning to take a lot less, because if I do management has a lot more wiggle room to sign people/do trades/improve the team."

That's all a player can do. Take less, and trust. For Duncan, I'd say it worked out wonderfully. He didn't win, but frankly he enhanced his reputation even further (in my eyes). They got so close! You could easily argue that if Duncan had taken the max (pushed for it) they never would have made the finals. The team would have suffered. Depth would have been effected. Who knows, maybe everyone would have had to play more min, (not good), and etc.

So that's Duncan. He took less and his team prospered and basketball prospered (much better to have a strong fun Spurs team instead of a hobbled Spurs team, for everyone except maybe the rest of the West).

Then you have... Kobe. He didn't take a bit pay cut and trust management to put together a stronger team than they could have otherwise had. He just took a whole heck of a lot.

Lakers basketball suffers. The NBA as a whole suffers when there are not enough really strong teams.

As usual, Duncan simply ran circles around Kobe on this issue. I don't blame Kobe for taking a lot of money, but I don't respect him.

I'm beginning to adore Duncan even more than ever, though. Not only does not NOT blather on endlessly about his 'drive to win' but he actually puts into practice that which he never pontificates about. Kobe, on the other hand, is endlessly talking about winning but (in practice) won't make a financial sacrifice to facilitate his team actually doing that.

In so many ways, Duncan is just a more honest, more pragmatic, and I'd say successful player.

Rock on Timmy. Seriously. Your peers continually shine a spotlight on you, and make you look even better by comparison.

[jefe]

I gotta say I've done a full 180 on this matter. I actually now think that the Lakers were right to give Kobe the extension they did. If anything they should have given him more.

The guy makes so much money for the Lakers that it's outrageous for them to ask Kobe to take a pay-cut. It's lucky that Kobe doesn't have a big ego and handled the diss with class. It doesn't matter what percentage of the cap Kobe takes up, since it's not like they were going to sign anyone anyway. Might as well give it all to Kobe. Kobe should be earning $40 mill plus per year in his final seasons.

People keep talking about flexibility like it means anything. I'd argue that having too many options is a bad thing as it makes it hard to make decisions. With this extension, and thus having less flexibility, it will be much easier for the Lakers to make decisions going forward since they won't have to think as much.

Agreed. Thinking is way too hard, and all the smart people I know avoid it. What GM really wants to spend so much time thinking about how to best build their team?

[fluffernutter]

I gotta say I've done a full 180 on this matter. I actually now think that the Lakers were right to give Kobe the extension they did. If anything they should have given him more.

The guy makes so much money for the Lakers that it's outrageous for them to ask Kobe to take a pay-cut. It's lucky that Kobe doesn't have a big ego and handled the diss with class. It doesn't matter what percentage of the cap Kobe takes up, since it's not like they were going to sign anyone anyway. Might as well give it all to Kobe. Kobe should be earning $40 mill plus per year in his final seasons.

People keep talking about flexibility like it means anything. I'd argue that having too many options is a bad thing as it makes it hard to make decisions. With this extension, and thus having less flexibility, it will be much easier for the Lakers to make decisions going forward since they won't have to think as much.

This is an absolutely pitch-perfect Lakerian Homer response.

Less flexibility is good! Less money to spend is better! Fewer options make it "much easier!"

I'm amazed other teams have not stumbled upon this formula! Just max out 2-3 players, trade away all your draft picks (for maximum lack of flexibility), and let the wins ROLL ON IN BABY!

You won't have to think at all!

Brilliant!

Now I want to apply this principle to my real life. Take a 2nd and third mortgage, let's see, get married/divorced a few times, have a few children, and then I'm all set. Locked into my job for life, no choices to be made, crippled financially but hey, I won't have to think, just plow through each day attempting to not commit suicide. My decision tree has been whittled down to a toothpick, and that's going to be lovely.

Can't wait!

[HotRocks34]

I gotta say I've done a full 180 on this matter. I actually now think that the Lakers were right to give Kobe the extension they did. If anything they should have given him more.

The guy makes so much money for the Lakers that it's outrageous for them to ask Kobe to take a pay-cut. It's lucky that Kobe doesn't have a big ego and handled the diss with class. It doesn't matter what percentage of the cap Kobe takes up, since it's not like they were going to sign anyone anyway. Might as well give it all to Kobe. Kobe should be earning $40 mill plus per year in his final seasons.

People keep talking about flexibility like it means anything. I'd argue that having too many options is a bad thing as it makes it hard to make decisions. With this extension, and thus having less flexibility, it will be much easier for the Lakers to make decisions going forward since they won't have to think as much.

This is an absolutely pitch-perfect Lakerian Homer response.

Less flexibility is good! Less money to spend is better! Fewer options make it "much easier!"

I'm amazed other teams have not stumbled upon this formula! Just max out 2-3 players, trade away all your draft picks (for maximum lack of flexibility), and let the wins ROLL ON IN BABY!

You won't have to think at all!

Brilliant!

Now I want to apply this principle to my real life. Take a 2nd and third mortgage, let's see, get married/divorced a few times, have a few children, and then I'm all set. Locked into my job for life, no choices to be made, crippled financially but hey, I won't have to think, just plow through each day attempting to not commit suicide. My decision tree has been whittled down to a toothpick, and that's going to be lovely.

Can't wait!

My own take on what TheBargnaniRule said was that it was sarcasm.

I could be wrong though.

[MaliBrah]

[tweet]https://twitter.com/kobebryant/status/405552962367275008[/tweet]
[tweet]https://twitter.com/kobebryant/status/405555562215387136[/tweet]
[tweet]https://twitter.com/kobebryant/status/405556635428716545[/tweet]

[almatic]

^^^ LOL guilty parties are always on the defensive. This guy is real sensitive for a 35-year-old who nicknamed himself after a cold-blooded reptile.

[Maluco Beleza]

lols going to be funny seeing kobe jack up shots
yell at his teammates and coaches
miss the playoffs and go out like a joke
but hey he's making that money right? lol

[almatic]

http://www.latimes.com/sports/lakersnow/la-sp-ln-kobe-extension-impact-current-roster-20131125,0,7979062.story

This may or may not have been posted in here already.
But yea, so Kobe is basically taking a big crap on the current Lakers' roster when he tweets that the Lakers will have "max cap room and then some".
They'd have to renounce every 2014 free agent, and to keep Pau HE would have to be the one to take a steep paycut. You know, Pau Gasol, the guy who Kobe couldn't get past the first round without post-Shaq.

[Maluco Beleza]

http://www.latimes.com/sports/lakersnow/la-sp-ln-kobe-extension-impact-current-roster-20131125,0,7979062.story

This may or may not have been posted in here already.
But yea, so Kobe is basically taking a big crap on the current Lakers' roster when he tweets that the Lakers will have "max cap room and then some".
They'd have to renounce every 2014 free agent, and to keep Pau HE would have to be the one to take a steep paycut. You know, Pau Gasol, the guy who Kobe couldn't get past the first round without post-Shaq.

kobe is just a selfish sod... and his fans will still defend him.
i hope his career ends in a joke and humiliation

[Mahaffey]

It's a shame, I was looking forward to one more Kobe-Timmy duel in the WCF

But screw it Kobe, get that money. He's got his rings and his legacy

[MinneOOPalis]

You kobe haters realize he is still making the lakers more money than they are paying him, right?

[derekc]

http://www.latimes.com/sports/lakersnow/la-sp-ln-kobe-extension-impact-current-roster-20131125,0,7979062.story

This may or may not have been posted in here already.
But yea, so Kobe is basically taking a big crap on the current Lakers' roster when he tweets that the Lakers will have "max cap room and then some".
They'd have to renounce every 2014 free agent, and to keep Pau HE would have to be the one to take a steep paycut. You know, Pau Gasol, the guy who Kobe couldn't get past the first round without post-Shaq.

kobe is just a selfish sod... and his fans will still defend him.
i hope his career ends in a joke and humiliation

It wont

[B2Bhoops]

[RIPskaterdude]

Worst fake tweet ever