The Dallas Mavericks recently nabbed Rajon Rondo from the Boston Celtics, and all Kobe Bryant could do was stew and plan a future breakfast date with his pal.
Prized free agents don’t seem to want to help rebuild the Los Angeles Lakers, but Kobe continues to have faith in the team’s front-office.
Kobe thinks he’ll have a chance to compete for an NBA title before he (supposedly) retires after next season.
Per USA Today:
“I really do trust management,” he reiterated. “I mean I really, really do. They’ll get things turned around pretty quickly. I’m not really concerned about that.”
Bryant admitted his disappointment in the Rondo development, as the recent recruiting breakfast that captured so many headlines in Boston and beyond was apparently for naught. Rondo is still set to be a free agent this summer, but the Mavericks are confident he will re-sign and it seems only a disastrous showing by Dallas can change that now. So, after the Lakers had inquired about a Rondo trade but ultimately lacked the assets to pull one off, was he disappointed to see him head for Dallas?
“Oh yeah,” said Bryant, who has insisted that he plans on retiring after next season. “Of course. Of course. But all you can do is control what you can control. We did our part. We did what we could. … It’s not from a lack of effort. It’s not from a lack of smarts, so I trust the process. It’s hard going through this (expletive), but our management will figure it out.”
