Did Kobe Change His Mind?
The Saga Continues…
As you’ve surely guessed, we’re going to be talking about Kobe Bryant for a while.
Let’s take a look at what has transpired in the last few days:
-Ric Bucher goes on TV and says if the Lakers don’t bring in Jerry West, Kobe wants to be traded.
-Kobe, predictably, comes out and denies the trade demand.
-An article in yesterday’s LA Times says that a Laker “insider” blames Kobe for running Shaq out of town.
-Kobe reads said article and goes nuts. He then appears on a radio show in LA and calls Laker management a bunch of liars.
(There’s some interesting speculation as to who this “insider” is floating around the internets.)
-Shaq tells Stephen A. Smith that he believes Kobe “1000 percent” when he says that he had nothing to do with his departure from Los Angeles in 2004.
-Kobe appears on Stephen A. Smith’s radio show this morning, and sounding like someone who could break down at any moment, says that he wants to be traded from the Lakers. Bryant says that there’s absolutely nothing the Lakers could do to change his mind at this point.
(Keep in mind that Kobe — in what seems like an incredibly calculated move — is updating his personal website like crazy while all of this is going on.)
-The Lakers release a statement through the press saying they have yet to talk to Kobe about the trade demand.
-This afternoon, Kobe appears on Dan Patrick’s radio show and, more or less, says that he still wants to be a Laker.
Patrick: “So, what’s the next step for you?”
Bryant: “I’m so tired of talking…I always dreamed about retiring as a Laker…I just hope, I just hope, hope and hope, that something can be resolved, can be figured out, just something, so that I can stay here and be with the team that I love”
So, where does this leave us?
Personally, I don’t think Kobe is going anywhere. There’s no way the Lakers can get anything of equal value for him; just look at what happened last time they traded away a franchise player.
Once Jerry Buss gets out of the slammer, I see him begging Jerry West to come back to the organization. What other choice does he have? Can you imagine how bad he and the Lakers would look if they got rid of both Kobe and Shaq within the same decade and got almost nothing in return?
Once again, Kobe Bryant is arguably the most powerful athlete in all of sports. Who else could get away with this? The Lakers have no choice but to make him happy now.
It’s Kobe’s world, we’re all just paying taxes.
50 Responses to “Did Kobe Change His Mind?”
May.30 at 6:16 pm
R.W. says:
sheesh
May.30 at 6:17 pm
mutoni says:
i’m not sure, but you might not be able to hear the dan patrick interview unless you have espn insider. shhh, don’t tell anyone that i subscribe to insider.
May.30 at 6:23 pm
R.W. says:
I have long been a Kobe fan. But he can really make it hard sometimes.
May.30 at 6:38 pm
Max Airington says:
Amen.
May.30 at 6:53 pm
Amy says:
i heard kobe’s interview and everything he said was genuine…i wish him all the best! i’ve always been a kobe fan and i’m always gonna be on his side, no matter what team he plays for!
May.30 at 6:55 pm
Stuie says:
I understand why he did this. the team is a mess. the lakers only give him odom and expect him to be happy. I can tell you exactly what happend. Kobe says i cant take having sh*ity players on my team anymore. thats why they didnt make it out of the 1st round. then the lakers find a trade that could bring a good player to LA and kobe says alright ill stay. Ive been saying this ever since people started saying that the lakers would beat the suns. Kobe cant do it unless he gets a good backup. its impossible to do. And don’t bring up Jordan because he had Pippen.
May.30 at 7:01 pm
Reggie Evans says:
Kobe is likeable.
May.30 at 7:01 pm
Token Euro says:
Breaking news just in: Marcel Mutoni still subscribes to ESPN Insider. /shocking!/ Also in today’s headlines: Kobe Bryant demands trade to Pluto: it might not be a planet, but at least it ain’t full of lying snakes.
May.30 at 7:04 pm
Darksaber says:
Only man on that lala team i feel sorry for is Lamar. The man loses a child and has to deal with that self possessed prima donna. And he was in such a great nucleus back in Miami after being known as a ganjahead in clippertown. Los Angeles, must be something in that water.
May.30 at 7:06 pm
ikemob22 says:
I’m not gonna down Kobe for his indesiveness bcuz its like a relationship with a bad boyfriend you know you deserve better and want to leave but have soo much history with em you want to try and make it wrk and stay! you love his family and the family loves you, I.E. LAKER FANS… and you dnt want to disppoint them by just walkin away from the relationship! kobe dnt trip toughen it out! maybe he/she will strighten up get thier act together and yall relationship will rise!!! sorry for the boyfriend exapmle but it makes too much sense
May.30 at 7:08 pm
Russ Bengtson says:
PLEASE, NO MORE BLOGGER POSTS ABOUT KOBE ON THIS WEBSITE UNTIL ONE OF THE FOLLOWING OCCURS: A) THE NBA FINALS END. B) HE TAKES HOSTAGES AND MAKES ACTUAL THREATS. C) HE LITERALLY GETS TRADED. Thank you.
May.30 at 7:09 pm
ikemob22 says:
KoBE is basketball so as long as this is a basketball site lets get it poppin!!!
May.30 at 7:12 pm
Darksaber says:
Merci beaucoup Mister Bengston
May.30 at 7:13 pm
Reggie Evans says:
I care about Kobe news and posts.
May.30 at 7:16 pm
Russ Bengtson says:
I’m not writing another word about Kobe on this website until one of those three things happen. F**k Kobe and f**k ESPN.
May.30 at 7:18 pm
dez says:
Oh, you’ll write about Kobe. And you’ll love it.
May.30 at 7:19 pm
mutoni says:
what is this ‘nba finals’ that you speak of, russ?
May.30 at 7:21 pm
Chris Sorum says:
Point is, it should have never come to this. Can someone please explain me why neither Buss or Kupchak has even called Kobe? Why not try to sort this out as quickly as possible? Mind boggling to say the least. To say that the frontoffice have failed the Laker fans miserably is an understatement. And what the hell is up with these leaks from so-called Laker insiders?? For those of you who read the local LA papers, you know it’s not the first time this has happened. To have people from the inside sniping at your franchise player is unacceptable. What a mess.
May.30 at 7:25 pm
Reggie Evans says:
They need to make a Kobe Channel, all Kobe, all the time. They could play past games, have people argue about him, Kobe press conferences.
May.30 at 7:25 pm
Russ Bengtson says:
It’s when two of the teams that are still playing—and have won actual playoff series—play against each other to determine who the best team in the League is. Happens roughly once a year. Takes six weeks or so.
May.30 at 7:26 pm
mutoni says:
i thought that what the internet was, reggie.
May.30 at 7:51 pm
Reggie Evans says:
i thought that’s what espn.com was.
May.30 at 8:02 pm
donn says:
Thank goodness for all this Kobe drama…without it all we would have left are these boring conference finals…..
May.30 at 8:04 pm
donn says:
Hey Russ, your Bulls would be one of those teams if Kobe was on the Bulls….
May.30 at 8:09 pm
mutoni says:
i don’t know, lebron is making the ecf pretty damn interesting…
May.30 at 8:14 pm
Nothin_personal says:
Come on Russ, you just realised that your Bulls can’t realistically get kobe, and you went sour!
May.30 at 9:19 pm
The Real Mongoose says:
Am I alone in thinking the Cavs are a boring team that happens to have a superstar?
May.30 at 9:33 pm
Steve O says:
Can I just say nice 1st quarter effort Jazz, why are they even playing?
May.30 at 9:41 pm
Russ Bengtson says:
That was possibly the best quarter of basketball that the San Antonio Spurs have ever played or will ever play. The Parker oop to Duncan actually made me curse out loud. Literally.
May.30 at 10:05 pm
Holiday says:
Honestly how would you play if the last game you played was handed to the spurs by the refs, thats gotta be disheartening! please make it close Jazz!
May.30 at 10:10 pm
Steve O says:
I believe Michelle Tafoya just said ” Offensive rebounding is keeping the Jazz in this game,”. Score 52-34 Spurs. When exactly did 20 points constitute in the game? Holiday you are right, I’m pretty sure they start calling fouls on whoever is guarding TP before he even makes his move.
May.31 at 1:09 am
Sesa says:
Tim Duncan’s mugshot when featured on Spurs title from 99 is boring.
May.31 at 3:23 am
Boing Dynasty says:
There is only one fair way to resolve this. Charlotte must sign Vlade Divac and send him to LA for Kobe. And the circle of life continutes…
May.31 at 4:46 am
RedRum says:
Can someone please check on Reggie Evans? he seems to have hit the bong too hard..
May.31 at 8:08 am
H to the izzo says:
There is hundreds of other players in the league that are not going to be traded lets talk about the fact that they’re not going to be traded.Literally
May.31 at 8:49 am
Ryan Jones says:
Hey mutoni, it’s Ryan. Just checking in to make sure I don’t detect even a trace amount of surprise in your tone regarding the latest “twist” in this saga. In its own, charming way, this sh*t is dumber and more predictable than Days of our Lives.
May.31 at 8:50 am
Ryan Jones says:
…though in fairness, most daytime soaps have more believable characters…
May.31 at 8:57 am
Ryan Jones says:
And one more — sorry, I just can’t resist…
Kobe to Dan Patrick: “I’m so tired of talking.”
MOTHERF*CKER YOU KNOW THESE FOUR RADIO INTERVIEWS AND MULTIPLE PRINT INTERVIEWS AND BLOG POSTS YOU’VE DONE IN THE PAST TWO DAYS ARE VOLUNTARY, RIGHT? AND YOU KNOW THE UNIVERSAL REACH OF THE INTERNET MEANS YOU CAN DO ONE INTERVIEW AND EVERYONE CAN HAVE ALMOST IMMEDIATE ACCESS TO IT, RIGHT? AND YOU KNOW YOU CAN JUST SHUT THE F*CK UP, RIGHT? MAMBA? CAN YOU HEAR ME MAMBA?
As previously stated, I may be a hater.
May.31 at 9:24 am
Ryan Jones says:
www.theonion.com/content/news_briefs/kobe_bryant_demanding
May.31 at 1:20 pm
mutoni says:
ryan, you know i love this stuff. to be honest, i don’t think he’s done enough media stuff in the last week. keep it coming, kob. i got blog posts to write, homeboy.
May.31 at 4:33 pm
Ryan Jones says:
Kobe just called me. He wants to clear the air. I told him I’d put it on speakerphone so at least a few other people can hear. I think he’ll feel better after that.
May.31 at 7:06 pm
Reggie Evans says:
Just think of KB as a 16 year-old boy, and it will all make sense.
May.31 at 7:42 pm
mutoni says:
Just think of KB as a 16 year-old girl, and it will all make sense. (fixed)
Jun.1 at 4:26 pm
Ryan Jones says:
Kobe just changed his mind again. He wants soup instead of salad.
Jun.15 at 4:52 am
John says:
I think Kobe did all this to make Lakers realise that they need to do something soon. hopefully we get a good player and become a contender which was Kobes point.
Jun.18 at 1:43 am
ramon manquera says:
i think that if jerry west does not come back kobe should leave the lakers i see im with kevin garnet it would be a good season if that happen
Dec.8 at 10:14 pm
David says:
“Can you imagine how bad he and the Lakers would look if they got rid of both Kobe and Shaq within the same decade and got almost nothing in return?” I know, seriously. But he’s obviously not gonna go anywhere, he just wanted the Lakers to take some kind of action. And with his skill and that contract, he has the leverage to do it.
Jan.20 at 2:26 am
mr fantasic says:
kobe is the man
my favorite
Jan.20 at 2:27 am
mr fantasic says:
kobe ,never retire
May.8 at 4:41 am
Ahmad Shawish says:
kobe is the best . now “”" MVP “”" and later “”" THE CHAMPIONSHIP “”"