Kobe Not Happy

From ESPN Insider
May 28 - Kobe Bryant isn't happy with the Lakers' direction and wants Jerry West back in Los Angeles to fix things.
Bryant told ESPN The Magazine's Ric Bucher that he wants the Lakers to bring West back to the organization and give him full authority. If the Lakers don't want to do that, Bryant said he wants to be traded.

Bryant is frustrated that the team has not made any significant moves since it re-signed him.


"My feeling on Jerry West is I trust him completely," Bryant said. "I don't want to get into people believing me to be bashing anybody. Mitch is a great guy. All I can go by is what has happened with this team the last two years, and I know Jerry West is a guy who's great at what he does. ... Just having him back in the nucleus will help."
He has not asked for a trade and did not foresee seeking one if West was not hired.

"I would love for him to be a part of this," Bryant said. "But it's not something where I demand he comes here. All I can do is offer my thoughts. I love being a Laker. I want to retire a Laker. I want to fix this thing, or at least help any way I can." -- Los Angeles Times


"I'm not demanding anything," Bryant said by phone late Sunday night. "I'm not making any threats. I didn't say that. Those words didn't come out of my mouth about a trade. I'm just making a suggestion. I think Jerry West is one of the greatest to ever do this thing. It's undeniably so."
Bryant has maintained a close relationship with West and said he knows Lakers coach Phil Jackson would have no problem with West returning.

"Think of it in terms of you have the opportunity to get one of the best to ever do it. It's more of Jerry West's brilliance than anything else." -- Riverside Press-Enterprise


ESPN.com's Marc Stein reports the most likely scenario as of Sunday night, according to team sources, is that West will indeed rejoin the Lakers as a consultant this summer after becoming a front-office free agent on July 1. This has been circulating as a possibility since the Lakers' first-round series with Phoenix. -- ESPN.com

"My wife is from here, I love it here, and I've been a Laker fan my whole life," Bryant said. "My focus is on doing what I can to get this franchise back to where it should be. What I want to do is win with the Los Angeles Lakers and get us back to prominence." -- Orange County Register

Unless ESPN The Magazine's Ric Bucher has completely gotten it wrong, Kobe needs a serious timeout. Needs a major reality check. Needs to stop acting like a pampered superstar and more like someone committed to his team and contract. -- Long Beach Press-Telegram

Now don't go running through the streets, like the over-amped Bull in the pregame United Center video, shouting, "Kobe is coming!" John Paxson again would have to stand in line and hope his package of players would one-up everyone else's. But my point is this: Three years later, the Bulls finally have attractive goods to offer in the NBA's volatile trading scene. And if their future doesn't involve Bryant, whether he officially demands a trade or opts out of his contract in two years, it's good to know the Bulls can be major players when established stars are available. -- Chicago Sun-Times

 

wtf? article after article quoting him saying he doesn't want to be traded and isn't making a demand that west come back to the lakers, and yet the story is that he wants to be taded unless west comes back?

 

Kobe will never win another title.

 

Fuck him. Had he not had an ego the size of LA he and Shaq would have stayed together and won more. He bitched like a baby and Shaq got traded. He made his bed now it's time to sleep in it

 

Kobe and L. James on the same team. Hmmmm. Just sayin'

 

i don't think it was his bitching that got shaq traded, i think it was $$. the lakers are owned by a guy, not an investment group. having two max players on the team just wasn't a financially viable option given the luxury tax hit he'd be taking. he kept kobe cuz kobe is younger.

and lets not pretend that shaq doesn't have an ego. everywhere he goes he talks about "his team". he's only got a few more years i think, so wade doesn't have to deal with it for too much longer.

 

I don't think Wade gives a damn because EVERYBODY know that is Wade's team. Basically Shaq is doing what he would be in L.A....playing 2nd fiddle (Wade just has less ego than Kobe).

 

just heard an interview with Kobe on the radio. he said wants to be traded

 

yep. He'll probably end up in NY.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=2886927

 

yeah, just heard the same thing. keep in mind a lot of guys want trades, but not all of them happen.