Bryant asks for trade from Lakers By JOHN NADEL, AP Sports Writer May 30, 2007 AP - May 30, 1:10 pm EDT More Photos LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Kobe Bryant asked to be traded from the Lakers on Wednesday, a day after calling the team's front office "a mess." He said there was nothing the Lakers could do to change his mind. "I would like to be traded, yeah," Bryant told ESPN radio. "Tough as it is to come to that conclusion there's no other alternative. It's rough man, but I don't see how you can rebuild that trust. I just don't know how you can move forward in that type of situation." Bryant, who helped the Lakers win three consecutive NBA championships, has four years left on the seven-year, $136.4 million contract he signed July 15, 2004. That was a day after Shaquille O'Neal was traded to the Miami Heat. Bryant became infuriated Tuesday when a Los Angeles Times columnist quoted what he called a Lakers insider as saying it was Bryant's insistence on getting away from O'Neal that prompted the trade to Miami. Bryant, the NBA's leading scorer the past two seasons, said he spoke with Phil Jackson on Tuesday, and the coach told him he was being let go because the Lakers were committed to reducing payroll and rebuilding long term. ADVERTISEMENT "They said nothing to me about a long-term plan -- absolutely nothing," Bryant told KLAC radio, the Lakers' flagship station. "They told Phil one thing and they told me another. Actions speak louder than words." "It's a trust thing," he added. "They're in a long-term plan that I had no idea about." The Lakers and Bryant's agent, Rob Pelinka, did not immediately respond to messages left by The Associated Press. Bryant, an 11-year veteran who turns 29 in August, urged the team at season's end to do what it takes to get back into contention. He essentially repeated those comments last weekend in an interview with the Los Angeles Times. On Sunday, he suggested former Lakers general manager Jerry West should return. West left the team in the summer of 2000 and was succeeded by current GM Mitch Kupchak. West, an employee of the Lakers for about 40 years as a player, coach and executive, is under contract as the Memphis Grizzlies' president until July 1. He turned 69 this week and has remained a close friend of Kupchak's. West has said he has "no plans to seek employment with any other organization." It was West who brought Bryant to the Lakers, trading center Vlade Divac to Charlotte in the summer of 1996 for the rights to Bryant -- the 13th pick in the NBA draft. Bryant was only 17 at the time. On Tuesday, Bryant did a series of radio interviews bashing the Lakers. He contended owner Jerry Buss misled him three years ago, saying the team would try immediately to rejoin the NBA's elite. "That place is a mess," Bryant said, referring to the Lakers' front office. "If we're not making strides here to improve this team right now, to be aggressive in that nature, then what's the point of having me here?" AP - May 30, 1:10 pm EDT More Photos The 74-year-old Buss was arrested Tuesday in Carlsbad for investigation of driving under the influence of alcohol. He was released later in the day. Bryant earned $17.72 million last season and is owed $88.6 million over the next four years. He can terminate his contract following the 2008-09 season -- a move that would leave $47.8 million on the table. By requesting a trade, Bryant would obviously waive his no-trade clause, but he has a trade clause in his contract that is believed to add about $13 million to his total contract value, a cost to be absorbed by any team that acquires him. That money would be paid like a signing bonus and would not count toward the salary cap. The Lakers had to pay a similar fee to Lamar Odom when they acquired him from Miami three years ago, paying him about $8 million. The Lakers won championships from 2000-02 and reached the NBA finals again in 2004, losing to the Detroit Pistons in five games. The team was broken up at that time. O'Neal was traded, Jackson left and other stalwarts -- Karl Malone, Gary Payton, Derek Fisher, Robert Horry and Rick Fox -- went elsewhere or retired. The Lakers failed to make the playoffs the following season. With Jackson returning before the 2005-06 campaign, they finished seventh in the Western Conference in each of the past two years, but were eliminated by Phoenix in the first round of the playoffs. The Lakers appeared to be a title contender through the first half of this season, going 26-13 despite several injuries to key players. But they lost 27 of their last 43 games to finish 42-40 before losing to the Suns in five games. "Personally for me, it's beyond frustration -- three years and still being at ground zero," Bryant said a day after the playoffs ended. "This summer's a big summer. We have to see what direction we want to take as an organization and make those steps and make them now." Bryant has made the All-Star team in each of the past nine seasons, clearly establishing himself as an NBA great before age 30. Only one active NBA player, Kevin Garnett, has a longer tenure with one team than Bryant. Garnett has played 12 seasons for Minnesota. The Lakers won 20 playoff series from 2000-04 but have won four postseason games and no series in the past three years. Since O'Neal left, they've received little from the draft, trades or free agency. Bryant has stated repeatedly in the past that he was a Lakers' fan since childhood, and wanted to be a Laker for life. But the O'Neal matter and his feeling of being misled by Buss appear have changed things. "The fact of the matter is that many people don't know what really went down when I was approaching free agency because I have stayed quiet about it this whole time," Bryant wrote on his Web site. "The real facts are that Dr. Buss requested a meeting with me during the '04 season long before I opted out of my contract, and he told me he had already decided not to extend Shaq, as he was concerned about Shaq's age, fitness and contract demands. "Dr. Buss made it clear that his decision was final, his mind was made up, and no matter what I decided to do with free agency, he was still going to move Shaq." O'Neal said on the Philadelphia Inquirer's Web site he believed Bryant "100 percent." Bryant said he was considering signing with the Clippers and Chicago Bulls three years ago before hearing from Buss. "Dr. Buss promised me he would rebuild right away, and I believed him," Bryant wrote. "That is why I put my trust in the Lakers. But when stuff like this is coming from the 'inside,' all I can do is hope that someone from the 'inside' comes forward to support me and set straight the facts of what really happened. This is the TRUTH."
without reading the article all i have to say is: IT's ABOUT TIME....his job is to be one of the best ; their job is to get him a good supporting cast. Sheesh how many have they let go by. They havent done shit since letting go of shaq...and there have been plenty of opportunities...I'd be bitching instead of doing what Kevin garnett does..which is NOTHING and hence the reason he has nothing to show for it...Kobe is 28 he has 4 more prime years and nothing is getting done over there...peace
He drives off Shaq..has a reputation of hanging his players out to dry and even told the police that "shaq cheats on his wife all the time".....NOBODY wants to play with him...he's selfish....he could have won at least one maybe two more titles by now if he didn't;t let his ego get in the way... Check out this interesting article... The Logo's livid with Kobe By Adrian Wojnarowski, Yahoo! Sports May 29, 2007 Sooner or later, Kobe Bryant turns on everyone in his life. Professional, personal, it's never mattered to him. He can be calculated and merciless this way. When he wants something, it seems everyone's disposable. So, it is little surprise to discover that, through a source who has spoken with Jerry West, that the Logo is downright livid with Bryant for demanding West's return to the Los Angeles Lakers at the expense of his protégé, Mitch Kupchak. Maybe there was a chance that West could've come back with the Lakers, but Bryant's self-absorbed and self-destructive crusade to crush Kupchak over Memorial Day weekend has made it far less likely. Yes, West and Bryant have always shared the bond of cutthroat competitiveness, DNA that demands greatness of themselves and those surrounding them. For both, it has been a blessing and a curse, but it's an undeniable thread that runs through them. Yet, here's the difference: West is legendarily loyal. ADVERTISEMENT Once West's contract expires with the Grizzlies after the NBA draft, perhaps there had been a possibility that he could return to the Lakers as a consultant. Nothing has been discussed with owner Jerry Buss, the source said, and West issued a statement on Monday night insisting that he would never, ever do anything that would undermine Kupchak. "Kobe has to turn on everyone at some point, cut people and ties in almost every relationship in his life," a former Bryant associate said Monday. "He turns on people because he believes he's not getting what he deserves. He has a one-track mind that thinks the world revolves around him and doesn't take a second to consider the costs, or what's the best way to handle something. "This is the same stuff he did with (Shaquille O'Neal). He would leak the story, instigate it and then not understand why it never worked. Shaq is still more beloved than Kobe, and he will always be in L.A. People have seen this all before with Kobe. This never turns out right for him." Bryant has stayed true to character in this embarrassing episode, going back and forth on his demands over the weekend. First, he ripped Kupchak, insisting that he had been, more or less, incompetent on the job. Then he told ESPN the Magazine that, unless West was brought back to run the Lakers, he wanted a trade. Once that got out, Bryant must have understood he had far overplayed his hand, done devastating damage to the mythical rehabilitation of his image. He knew he had gone too far. He should've apologized and acknowledged he was out of line talking this way. Only, he denied saying it, despite the fact that the writer has been a long-time confidant. Typical Kobe, selling out someone else. "I'm not demanding anything," Bryant told the Riverside Press-Enterprise just after he had spent the weekend demanding everything. "I'm not trying to throw Mitch under the bus, or (Lakers VP) Jim (Buss) under the bus," he told the Orange County Register just after he just spent the weekend doing just that. For now, Kupchak loses leverage with his peers while trying to work trades this summer. This isn't the first time Bryant has created this kind of chaos for the franchise. As one NBA executive said Monday: "That made it harder for Mitch to get fair market value for Shaq. Everybody knew that Kobe's conditions to re-sign made it impossible for Shaq to stay, and Mitch had to take the Miami offer, which was the best on the table. Kobe needs to look in the mirror on that one." Here's something else, too. Kobe thinks everyone in the NBA wants to play with him, and it isn't true. He was complaining that the Lakers could've had his buddy, Carlos Boozer, a year ago, but the Jazz were never going to trade him for Lamar Odom. Yes, there are players who'll take a trade to the Lakers, but make no mistake: It isnât because they're enamored with the idea of hanging with Kobe. It isn't just that Kobe doesn't have friends in his own locker room, but elsewhere too. One associate remembers a party for Bryant's daughter several years ago, when he looked around and saw no one but people who worked for Kobe. "No friends, no teammates â just agents, a barber, P.R. people ⦠Everyone there was on the payroll." Maybe Kupchak hasn't done the best job in the world in these three years post-Shaq (the Caron Butler-Kwame Brown trade crushed the Lakers), but he made sure that private jet flew Kobe back and forth to his rape hearings in Colorado. He made sure the organization supported him unconditionally during that humiliating time for the franchise. His reward? Kobe opted out of his contract, threatened to leave for the Clippers and declared that he wanted a basketball career free of Shaq to indulge his own shooting and scoring desires. "Now, Kobe would go to the public with his stuff on Shaq, and he would never win," the ex-associate said. "He'd instigate, like he did with Kupchak, and he always comes out looking the same way." Of course, that's selfish and short-sighted. Bryant wanted to show the world who runs the Lakers again, and that's wonderful and all, except that he's made it harder for the Lakers to get better this summer. Three years ago, he chased out Shaq and Phil Jackson and was granted his wish for a franchise that was all about indulging him. So sure, West drafted Bryant into the NBA, delivered him O'Neal at center and constructed a three-time champion. What's more, the game's greatest G.M. wisely got out of Los Angeles before Kobe crushed him under his thumb, before West could be a target for Bryant. He's a smart man to stay away for good because he understands the inevitable here: Sooner or later, Kobe Bryant turns on everyone. Adrian Wojnarowski is the national NBA columnist for Yahoo! Sports. Send Adrian a question or comment for potential use in a future column or webcast.
Ok....Now the prima donna is saying..." tis is my team , i don't want to be traded" ................WHAT A BIATCH!!!!!!!!!!!!!! NO GOOD, BACK STABBING, DISLOYAL,LYING WIFE CHEATING PUNK!!!!!!!!!!!!! duh! no wonder nobody wants to play on his team! WWWWAAAAHHHhh." Jerry Buss didn't call me"....No Biatch, all he does is write a 15 million dollar check to you after you demanded Shaq and Phil be removed so you could be ' the STAR"....that worked out well!!!
kobe said it was buss that was too cheap to re-sign shaq and that the decision was made before the end of the season. shaq says he believes kobe 100%. and supposedly buss lied to kobe about building a championship team now rather than later. and it doesnt help that he just got busted for DUI. im not saying kobe is a saint, but if the accusations are true, jerry buss is as big a jerk as kobe. and at least kobe is entertaining to watch.
It will be very interesting at the least to see how this plays out. I am assuming salary cap rules will make it impossible to trade him except for someone else with a max contract. Maybe not though, the Sixers managed to move AI. Kobe is at an age where explosive players do not get better. The Lakers would be well advised to take any reasonable deal that comes their way. We've seen where they are going with the current roster, and I doubt this will exactly help team chemistry. Who would want him? Dallas comes to mind. New York. Maybe the Celtics. Houston for T-Mac? Nets for Carter? The problem is he has shown he needs one or two other all star caliber players to win championships, and it is tough to do that and still accommodate his contract.
Barry Bonds, Terrell Owens, Kobe... Me, me, me... All have show the ability to easily lie in the past, play the victim card, yada, yada, yada. The best thing that could happen to the once proud Lakers would be to trade this cancer and begin a rebuilding process. Kobe is not a leader, never has been, never will be. It is all about Kobe. Not once in any of the interviews did he ever say that he was part of the problem, that he did anything wrong. Get rid of the whining loser...
Kobe opted out of his contract a few years back and would only resign with the lakers if Shaq was gone and phil was gone so 'his' game would not be restricted....he got EXACTLY what he wished for....scoring titles and 50 point and 80 point games....but what was the price it came at? WINNING...the bottom line is that you could put Garnett on that team and it wouldn't;t make a difference....You think Kobe is willing to cut his scoring avg. by 10 points in order to have a balanced team? No way!.... ya know who is a true stud IMO? LaBron.....compare the talent or lack of it he has surrounding him in Clev. He could score 40 a game if he wanted to but he is a true team player and really does make those around him look much better then they really are.
I hear all this shit about Kobe being the best player in the game. Nonsense. Take Wade, Duncan, LeBron, Howard in Orlando over Kobe any day. This kid from Texas, Kevin Durrant...that kid looks like a winner to me, I would take him #1 if I had a chance. If Lakers had a brain, they would trade whatever they could to get a young stud like that. Kobe is over. Kobe is all about Kobe, not the type to sacrifice himself for the team. Shit, he could have gone to the Clippers if he really wanted to play on a team with talent, but they couldn't offer the money the Lakers did. These prima donna athletes like Kobe are scum...