Kobe Bryant's Gift to the Lakers

To borrow an ugly phrase used mostly in the 2004 presidential election, Kobe Bryant is a flip-flopper. It now appears that every 15 minutes Kobe wants to either stay with the Los Angeles Lakers or be traded. Current news reports now reflect him wanting to be traded once again. There can be no sweeter news heard by the man who is now and apparently has been for the last few years running the Los Angeles Lakers, Jimmy Buss.

Jimmy Buss seems to think a lethargic twenty year old center who has shown very little promise since the Los Angeles Lakers drafted him will lead the Los Angeles Lakers back to the promise land. Kobe Bryant apparently doesn’t think so. Kobe Bryant knows Shaquille O’neal. Kobe also knows that Andrew Bynum is no Shaquille O’neal. Jimmy Buss and Mitch Kupchak seem to think otherwise.

Trade talk with the Indiana Pacers has stalled because Jimmy and Mitch do not want to give up Andrew Bynum as a part of a trade for Jermaine O’neal. They feel that Lamar Odom should be enough. They are right. Both Odom and Jermaine O’neal have been injured often in the last couple of years. Neither of the two have been able to play a whole season in the last three years. If you are looking for upside Lamar is the more versatile and active player. He stays in shape when he can stay on the court, and in my opinion is now the better player. That being the case, why would you give him up for an inferior player who looks to be headed to the downside of his career? Then you compound the matter by throwing in a lottery pick as well for free? I wonder if the Los Angeles Lakers refuse to trade Andrew Bynum because it will once again prove that they don’t have a clue about what they are doing. There is supposedly a great deal of insider talk about how Andrew Bynum is worth so much in a trade. If the Los Angeles Lakers are smart they will put a trade together featuring Andrew Bynum and their 19th pick to a team that has a top ten pick in this years draft. Is there any wonder why Kobe is crying out for Jerry West to come back to the organization?

Jimmy and Mitch are surely in need of an NBA GM for Dummies book. These guys passed on Tayshaun Prince and Carlos Boozer for Kareem Rush. Rush is so good that he is now out of the league. Together Jimmy and Mitch have been the picture of ineptitude. While the San Antonio Spurs picked players like Manu Ginobili, Tony Parker, and Leandro Barbosa, who was later traded to the Phoenix Suns, the Los Angeles Lakers have drafted players like Sasha Vujacic, Brian Cook, and Rush. When you look at it that way, can you blame Kobe for not wanting to stick around?

Kobe wants to leave because he sees the dysfunction in Los Angeles Lakers management. Kobe’s eyes see a big zero when it comes to championships for his Los Angeles Lakers future. You can not blame a player who is as driven as Kobe Bryant for wanting to leave the mess that is the Los Angeles Lakers. Everything Los Angeles Lakers management has touched in the last few years has turned to you know what. Take the Shaq trade for instance. What is now left of it is Kwame Brown, Odom, and Jordan Farmar. We all know now that Jerry Buss was not going to re-sign Shaq. Kobe told us that the first time he asked for a trade and Jerry was fine with the truth being known. Instead of refuting it his message to the media was that they loved Kobe and want him to be a Laker for life. Jerry Buss isn’t going to let Kobe go anywhere because Kobe is the goose that lays the golden eggs. Kobe wants to go because it has finally come to his attention that Jerry Buss is cheap. Kobe saw Eddie Jones and Elden Campbell let go for money. He saw Glen Rice, Robert Horry, and Shaquille O’neal let go for money as well.

The main problem with the Los Angeles Lakers as of late is when they let go of players they are not getting equal value back for them. Jerry Buss hoped to get one more championship out of Shaq before letting him go. What Los Angeles Lakers management should have done was to get rid of Shaq the year before they did. If they had let him go with two years to go on his contract they would have been in far better shape. Shaq could not have forced them to trade him where he wanted to go. No team is going to want to trade for a superstar like Shaq and watch him opt out of his contract the next year to go somewhere else. If the Los Angeles Lakers had gotten rid of him a year earlier they wouldn’t have had to take scraps for him. Jerry Buss apparently thought that surrounding Kobe and Shaq with two hall of fame geezers like Karl Malone and Gary Payton would have got him another championship on the cheap. Karl Malone wanted a championship so bad that he signed with the Los Angeles Lakers that year for the veterans minimum. Karl ended up breaking down in the western conference finals and the Los Angeles Lakers championship hopes that year were history.

Los Angeles Lakers management is once again in murky waters. Kobe Bryant is the only player in the league with a no trade contract. The Los Angeles Lakers are once again on the clock. Kobe can opt out of his contract season after next and go where he wants too. Now the Los Angeles Lakers have no choice but to trade him. Now is the time that the Los Angeles Lakers should be able to get close to equal value for trading Kobe Bryant. Unfortunately for Los Angeles Lakers fans, the same two guys are at the helm that have been for the last few years and I don’t see them getting the best of anybody in any trade scenario. I don't think that they are going to trade Kobe. I think Los Angeles Lakers management along with Jerry Buss is just going to sit back and enjoy the soap opera for the next two years. People will still fill the arena to watch Kobe put up fifty points a night in a losing effort and the Buss’ will still get paid. I think the Buss ownership of the Los Angeles Lakers has about two years left. With money seeming to be the bottom line now for the team, Los Angeles Lakers fans can forget about contending for championships until the team is sold. Kobe is apparently willing to give the Los Angeles Lakers the opportunity to move on and get better, but Los Angeles Lakers management thinks black ink is a far better gift.

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