I will start this off by saying this was absolute pure speculation with little basis for reality by Bill Simmons and JA Adande at the end of a recent BS Report podcast. So don't shoot the messenger. But I found it intriguing enough to share and get ideas. So they were talking about what do the Lakers do going forward after this year. Apparently they are on the hook for some huge contracts going forward with Gasol and Bynum and a few ugly contracts like Fisher and Walton. Resa and Odom are free agents, blah, blah and there isn't a ton on the market this offseason. So they were speculating about how they keep it together if they win and blow it up if they lose to Denver, etc. Then they drop the bomb that gets interesting. Kobe can opt out after this year. So if they lose, the question is, what if Kobe decides he has had it? His teammates are soft, the front office is hamstrung with what they can do. He has to carry the team by himself almost every night. What if he opts out? So they were talking through all the teams with cap space Kobe might be willing to play for. And they mentioned Houston. They thought that with the team houston has, Kobe might be willing to play for them for mid level exception, but quickly poo pooed that. But then they brought up T-Mac. You'd have to put some other value with it, but TMac's expiring contract by itself has a lot of value. If Kobe says he is gone regardless, would LA trade him to us in a deal that keeps them competitive and with star power this year but sets them up with $$ for the big market next season? Can you imagine the possibilities with a starting lineup of Brooks, Bryant, Artest, Scola and Ming? Obviously, this would have to be Kobe's decision to start and there is 1% chance of it happening, but I thought it would be fun to speculate about, given the fact the media actually brought it up.
I would do what my friend used to do when TO was on the Cowboys. He would root for the team but not for TO. So in the off chance that Kobe would end up here, I would still root for the Rockets but I wouldn't be able to bring myself to cheer for Kobe. I just cannot stand that guy after Game 2...
Seems like Kobe likes the limelight so much that New York is the only place he would consider besides LA. But he'd have to know that if he more or less took T-Mac's place, he'd have a mighty nice chance of getting a couple more rings. In the final analysis, the ring count probably means more to him than day-to-day stardom. I'd put the possibility of him wanting to come to Houston at 20%, put the possibility of the Lakers trading him to us, and making the Rockets better than the Lakers: 5%.
I won't deny his talent, but having Kobe as a Rocket would be really hard for me to stomach. Especially after this year's playoffs. So smug...ugh...
I will prefer the FO do whatever it takes to win. If that means getting a punk expletive who had once been accused of rape to take us to the promised land, I am all for it. Now before anyone gets on my butt for having no morals, get off your high horse. NBA is a business and an entertainment. That means the players are there for our entertainment and should not be expected to be saints ore role models. If you don't like that, then watch one of those church shows or something.
Keep in mind that Kobe has a no-trade clause, which means he can veto any trade that's about to be put in the books. Therefore it's pretty much his final word.
In 2007 offseason, Kobe vetoed the trade with the Bulls because he didn't like what they were having to give up to get him, and thus wouldn't be the kind of team he would want to play for.
Everyone saying that they would have a hard time rooting for Kobe: You'd get over it VERY quickly after he helps us win a championship or two.
It was hard enough talking myself into Crazy Pills, but I draw the line at Kobe. That's a line I couldn't cross without officially becoming the sort of fan that I've always despised.
Lol at all the "Rockets fans" not wanting to get the 2nd best player in the NBA on their team...what is this like the Stockholm syndrome...or the Houston syndrome: a team's fans are so used to mediocrity that having nice guys on the team is more important than championships
well its kinda like this, if we get kobe then we have to let yao go because kobe can't share the spotlight.
I agree completely. you TAKE Kobe, you TAKE LeBron, you TAKE Boozer, you TAKE Jason Terry- if you are a GM, you take those players because you owe it to the fans to make your team better. If you are a fan, you ACCEPT those players because your main focus is the name on the front of the shirt- HOUSTON. If those players make the Rockets better and maintain our legacy as one of the premier basketball franchises, then all the more reason to support that player. Give me Kobe any day and twice today (Sunday), or Boozer or Terry or any of the other players who I hate- as long as they don't make the team worse.
Any true rockets fan will take any player on the team as long as it has the potential to make the team better.
