Horrible Start
I was having a decent morning till I found this article. It does not say Kobe will be traded or anything like that, but I just dont want this topic to be raised again. This is why I hate the media. Who knows - Kobe may read this article and bitch again about the Lakers inability to make a trade this summer.
After Cal, Lakers are my only sense of pride in terms of sports and unfortunately this year does not look like the year they will win their divison. I saw their preseason game against the Warriors and the Lakers got slaughtered. Granted its preseason and Kobe hardly took any shots, it still does not look good.
Months after Kobe Bryant demanded a trade, Lakers owner Jerry Buss openly talked about the possibility of dealing his star player this past offseason or even before February's trade deadline.
"I would certainly listen," Buss told Lakers beat writers on Wednesday. "At any time, I think you have to do that with anybody. It's just part of the game, to listen to somebody who has a dissatisfied player that you think is going to fit. You can't keep too many loyalties. You've got to look at it as a business. He looks at it the same way I look at it."
Bryant, the NBA's leading scorer the past two seasons, complained about a lack of talent around him at the end of last season. Bryant said May 30 he wanted to be traded, adding nothing could change his mind. He is owed $88.6 million over the next four seasons, but could terminate his contract in two years.
The Lakers haven't won a playoff series since reaching the NBA Finals in 2004, the fourth time in five years they played for the championship. With Bryant and Shaquille O'Neal leading the way, L.A. won three straight championships beginning in 2000.
Buss said he even discussed specific trade proposals with Bryant during the offseason and noted how the offers would hurt the Lakers in the long run.
"I even told him occasionally what I was offered," Buss said. "And I said, 'You have to know that this is not in favor of the Lakers. This would just be terrible to do.' And he said, 'I understand.' "
The Lakers owner also explained why trading a player of Bryant's stature would be difficult.
"It's very hard to trade somebody like him because people who have enough material to make it worthwhile are usually contenders and they don't want to make the trade," Buss said. "What was offered was not ever under consideration. And I told Kobe that. I told him I would try my best to accommodate his wishes, but that I could not afford to let him go unless we got comparable talent, if there is such a thing."
On a brighter note, I finally saw the USC/Stanford game on replay last night. Holy Shit! That game was amazing. Stanford made the SC defense and their offensive line look pathetic. For those who watched the game, I firmly believe that Harbaugh intentionally sent too many players in for the last game so that he would get a penalty and get a little more room for a fade pass. He was not even that pissed when the penalty was called - Tedford would be livid if this happened.
I think we have all discussed the implications of this loss for PAC-10 and Cal, so I wont beat a dead horse, or a dead trojan (sorry had to get one cheap joke in there.) Times like these though makes me think of my dear friend Shashank, who is stuck in Africa, who lives and dies by the Trojans. Poor guy - he has nothing to live for now and the sad thing is that no one in a 200 mile radius of him probably cares.
Here is a great Cal blog that Nuj just sent over. Enjoy.
http://calgoldenbearfootball.blogspot.com/
After Cal, Lakers are my only sense of pride in terms of sports and unfortunately this year does not look like the year they will win their divison. I saw their preseason game against the Warriors and the Lakers got slaughtered. Granted its preseason and Kobe hardly took any shots, it still does not look good.
Months after Kobe Bryant demanded a trade, Lakers owner Jerry Buss openly talked about the possibility of dealing his star player this past offseason or even before February's trade deadline.
"I would certainly listen," Buss told Lakers beat writers on Wednesday. "At any time, I think you have to do that with anybody. It's just part of the game, to listen to somebody who has a dissatisfied player that you think is going to fit. You can't keep too many loyalties. You've got to look at it as a business. He looks at it the same way I look at it."
Bryant, the NBA's leading scorer the past two seasons, complained about a lack of talent around him at the end of last season. Bryant said May 30 he wanted to be traded, adding nothing could change his mind. He is owed $88.6 million over the next four seasons, but could terminate his contract in two years.
The Lakers haven't won a playoff series since reaching the NBA Finals in 2004, the fourth time in five years they played for the championship. With Bryant and Shaquille O'Neal leading the way, L.A. won three straight championships beginning in 2000.
Buss said he even discussed specific trade proposals with Bryant during the offseason and noted how the offers would hurt the Lakers in the long run.
"I even told him occasionally what I was offered," Buss said. "And I said, 'You have to know that this is not in favor of the Lakers. This would just be terrible to do.' And he said, 'I understand.' "
The Lakers owner also explained why trading a player of Bryant's stature would be difficult.
"It's very hard to trade somebody like him because people who have enough material to make it worthwhile are usually contenders and they don't want to make the trade," Buss said. "What was offered was not ever under consideration. And I told Kobe that. I told him I would try my best to accommodate his wishes, but that I could not afford to let him go unless we got comparable talent, if there is such a thing."
On a brighter note, I finally saw the USC/Stanford game on replay last night. Holy Shit! That game was amazing. Stanford made the SC defense and their offensive line look pathetic. For those who watched the game, I firmly believe that Harbaugh intentionally sent too many players in for the last game so that he would get a penalty and get a little more room for a fade pass. He was not even that pissed when the penalty was called - Tedford would be livid if this happened.
I think we have all discussed the implications of this loss for PAC-10 and Cal, so I wont beat a dead horse, or a dead trojan (sorry had to get one cheap joke in there.) Times like these though makes me think of my dear friend Shashank, who is stuck in Africa, who lives and dies by the Trojans. Poor guy - he has nothing to live for now and the sad thing is that no one in a 200 mile radius of him probably cares.
Here is a great Cal blog that Nuj just sent over. Enjoy.
http://calgoldenbearfootball.blogspot.com/
posted by G at
11:25 AM
1 Comments:
Spoken like a true Laker fan / Kobe homer. Why are you blaming the media? Did the media demand to be traded? Did the media come out and say that they would consider trading Kobe? (not to mention - did the media get caught driving drunk with a 20-something in the passenger seat?)
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