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

[jjin28]

Wow. Kobe calls espn a bunch of idiots and now they really out to get him. Why all these hater articles out of the blue? I expect this from the typical real gm kobe hater fan but their intent is very obvious. They are pissed at being called idiots. Lol

[Sofa King]

To be realistic, Kobe has a cripple on the team.

[Exodus]

[JellosJigglin]

There are so many reasons why this story is BS but I'll just name 2 since there's already a thread on this:

1. Revenue from the Lakers' TV deal is tiered based on ratings. Imagine this current Laker team without Kobe on it. Yeah. No ratings, no dollars, no sense (pun intended). In other words, management knows he's making them a whole lot more than he's costing them.

2. If Kobe had signed on to play for the minimum, which free agent(s) this summer would've signed here? Melo got more money to stay put and keep his wife happy. Lebron went to a better team in a weak conference. Bosh signed for more and gets to stay put (again, in a less competitive conference). Love is the only one Laker fans thought might've been a possibility but he couldn't pass up the opportunity to play with Lebron while both in their primes. Can't blame him.

I'm still struggling to find a single free agent that Kobe has costed the Lakers. I mean there's a whole article on it so it must be true. But who are these free agents? I keep asking but can't seem to get a reply. Just a bunch of haters kicking dirt on a legend's grave for no real reason.

[jjin28]

And secondly, this was kobes first year with the team having cap space to even lure free agents. Lakers were always over the cap n got players to come for cheap. Exa the ron artest invading kobe while butt naked in the shower. Chris kaman comin last year for the min. Jamison coming for the min. Karl, the glove. Pau re-upping with the lakers. Odom getting mentally destroyed after we trade him n him basically begging to come back.

The only player that truly left was d12. He left bc he was a coward. Shaq leaving was different. Shaq was an ego thing. He left bc his pride got the best of him when mgmt chose kobe over him.

So the 1 yr we have space, its all kobes fault. The only person u can say that didnt want to be on the team w kobe is smush parker. Freakin smush parker. This article is a baseless attack on kobe for calling espn a bunch of idiots

[Exodus]

ESPN just trying to make money before the world series starts

[Run DLC]

I remember saying that Kobe wouldn't play second fiddle to any of the top FA's and some of y'all[Lakers fans] thought he'd take a backseat to LeBron if LeBron had wanted to joined him. Kobe's an egomaniac. He's great at what he does for a living, but he's not a guy that players would want to hang around with off the court like they would with, LeBron, Wade, Durant, etc.

He wants the spotlight. He cares about shooting 30+ times if he's having an off shooting night. He's just really grumpy. No current superstar in his right mind would want to play second fiddle to a shot Kobe Bryant. He's so one dimensional at this point and has been for years since after 2010. He's still a box office draw and he got paid, but if the Lakers FO ever thought they had a chance of landing a big name FA while Kobe's still under contract, then they're more delusional than i thought they were.

[JellosJigglin]

I remember saying that Kobe wouldn't play second fiddle to any of the top FA's and some of y'all[Lakers fans] thought he'd take a backseat to LeBron if LeBron had wanted to joined him. Kobe's an egomaniac. He's great at what he does for a living, but he's not a guy that players would want to hang around with off the court like they would with, LeBron, Wade, Durant, etc.

He wants the spotlight. He cares about shooting 30+ times if he's having an off shooting night. He's just really grumpy. No current superstar in his right mind would want to play second fiddle to a shot Kobe Bryant. He's so one dimensional at this point and has been for years since after 2010. He's still a box office draw and he got paid, but if the Lakers FO ever thought they had a chance of landing a big name FA while Kobe's still under contract, then they're more delusional than i thought they were.

Which free agents are you referring to?

[Lionlifer]

Crippling in terms of winning games, maybe. I'm not sold any of the recent FA would really have gone there (Melo is about the cash, and Lakers couldn't have traded for Love). LA doesn't strike me as a team who would do a classic rebuild anyways.

Crippling in terms of making cash, not a chance. Dude is a top 10 player of all time, and a money making machine. LA would lose tons of cash without him. Besides, now they can pitch the Kobe returns angle, and that is worth it's weight in gold.

[StocktonShorts]

ESPN writes and anti Kobe article after he calls them idiots?

Hmm.

I'm guessing that article has been in the works for quite some time. It certainly predates Kobe's predictable, annual, public outrage at losing the battle with Father Time.

[MistyMountain20]

[tweet]https://twitter.com/Yg_Trece/status/524297654570713088[/tweet]

George corroborating Abbott's story by calling his story crazy. In English, crazy means a sign of veracity and accuracy. right?

[Run DLC]

I remember saying that Kobe wouldn't play second fiddle to any of the top FA's and some of y'all[Lakers fans] thought he'd take a backseat to LeBron if LeBron had wanted to joined him. Kobe's an egomaniac. He's great at what he does for a living, but he's not a guy that players would want to hang around with off the court like they would with, LeBron, Wade, Durant, etc.

He wants the spotlight. He cares about shooting 30+ times if he's having an off shooting night. He's just really grumpy. No current superstar in his right mind would want to play second fiddle to a shot Kobe Bryant. He's so one dimensional at this point and has been for years since after 2010. He's still a box office draw and he got paid, but if the Lakers FO ever thought they had a chance of landing a big name FA while Kobe's still under contract, then they're more delusional than i thought they were.

Which free agents are you referring to?

LeBron and Melo. I thought Melo was a possible option since they share nice bond in the off season and their wives are friends as well, but Melo chose to be the primary option on his team and got paid well, he made a smart financial decision. I never thought LeBron was a possible option. There's no way he'd want to kiss Kobe's ass and play second fiddle to him when he's clearly the better all-around player.

[kingkirk]

I'm guessing that article has been in the works for quite some time. It certainly predates Kobe's predictable, annual, public outrage at losing the battle with Father Time.

The bad blood existed prior to that.

If ESPN want to do a proper analysis of who is crippling the Lakers, the name Kobe Bryant should not be mentioned.

It starts and ends with Buss.

Let's not pretend that the Lakers brass has been making sound decisions over the last few years (not suggesting you hold that view).

[StocktonShorts]

I'm guessing that article has been in the works for quite some time. It certainly predates Kobe's predictable, annual, public outrage at losing the battle with Father Time.

The bad blood existed prior to that.

If ESPN want to do a proper analysis of who is crippling the Lakers, the name Kobe Bryant should not be mentioned.

It starts and ends with Buss.

Let's not pretend that the Lakers brass has been making sound decisions over the last few years (not suggesting you hold that view).

Not sure if you're read the article or not, but Jim Buss isn't portrayed in a very favorable light. But I don't think you can talk about the Lakers without mentioning Kobe. There's way too much smoke to categorically deny that there's no chance of a fire.

[Imon]

Which free agents are you referring to?

The free agents that stick out and are talked about most often are the big names like Dwight, Melo, Lebron, or Bosh but what about the second tier FA?
Guys like Isaiah and Lance Stephenson?
You don't have to have two stars to be a competitive team. To be a title contender, yes, but not a team that makes the playoffs. Denver won 50+ games two seasons ago with a bunch of solid players.

So why didn't the Lakers go for second-tier FAs like Bledsoe?
If you want ratings get a competitive team that could potentially squeeze into the playoffs instead of a lottery team. Just structure their contracts so they end when Kobe's ends.

[StocktonShorts]

Just structure their contracts so they end when Kobe's ends.

And why would a second-tier player agree to a short deal like that?

[GreenBloodedC]

If anything else, Kobe's the only one making the Lakers relevant.

[Imon]

Just structure their contracts so they end when Kobe's ends.

And why would a second-tier player agree to a short deal like that?

Players are gonna opt out of the CBA in 2017 and the salary cap will go up substantially.
Make it two years plus a team option in the third year.

[Run DLC]

I'm guessing that article has been in the works for quite some time. It certainly predates Kobe's predictable, annual, public outrage at losing the battle with Father Time.

The bad blood existed prior to that.

If ESPN want to do a proper analysis of who is crippling the Lakers, the name Kobe Bryant should not be mentioned.

It starts and ends with Buss.

Let's not pretend that the Lakers brass has been making sound decisions over the last few years (not suggesting you hold that view).

Jim Buss is a problem, but so is Kobe. Jim is crippling the team with his poor decisions and letting his ego get in the way of how the team should be running and he isn't open-minded about anyone else's ideas, but his own. Kobe is crippling the Lakers because he doesn't plan on taking a backseat to anyone even at his age and other players have big egos too, they don't have or want to put up with all that drama when they have the option to play somewhere else and play with players who will take backseats to them.

[Nitrus34]

Kobe is irrelevant at this point. The league has moved on.

Where exactly have you derived that from?

Ignore him. Him along with Volcano and 'RaptorNews' are the most notorious kobe haters on realgm. They're literally in every Laker thread spewing their anti-kobe and laker agenda