Why are people angry over him taking the most money he could possibly get? This is a business. They offered him way more money than any team can possibly offer and he took it.
It's fine for him to take the money, you could even say he deserves it, but he can't complain when the Lakers can't make any moves because his salary is close to half the salary cap.
I think him knowing what his salary does to the cap then throw everyone under the bus AGAIN is what people are shaking their heads at. Its just that this time, its not going to work. He can cry all day long, his journey is about over.
All the people saying he should take a paycut are making me laugh. If your boss asked offered you a raise, would you say no so that your company could use the funds in other areas? Its easy to say on the outside looking in but if any of us were offered $25M/yr, the number which would say "its cool, give me $15M/yr instead" is probably VERY LOW. They can afford a max-level FA with his salary. That is why they offered him what they offered him. That is their plan (I doubt it works but they will be cashing after LeBron/Melo/Bosh).
If he wants to get paid, I have no problem. But shut up with all the whining about how the team isn't doing enough to get pieces around him, and how he's all about winning. If you are sort of about being paid, and sort of about winning, be a little more honest about it. That way, you won't look like a two faced insufferable d-bag. There have plenty of big money vets that got paid, ended up on crappy teams, and soldiered on in mediocrity. You don't see Stoudamire, for instance, b****ing and whining about how he's all about winning in NYC when he gets that $20 mil payday on the Knicks.
Having kirby on the team, playing or not, gives the Lakes a high profile, even losing, they are still 'The Lakers". That''s why he gets the $25 million. Like how the CEO of a company losing money still gets his stock bonuses, the cult of personality defines the value of the organization, for stockholders and fans. And a big part of kirby's cult following is his 'all about winning' public statements. Win or lose, with kirby the Lakers are worth a billion dollars. If they are just another NBA team, they are worth maybe $500 million dollars. The $25 million is chump change.
Or you know, they could've dumped Kobe like a hot potato and rebuild immediately with the top pick and Kevin Love. Kobe's just being delusional and thinking only about himself. He: 1) Signs a contention-killing contract 2) Makes a demand talking about how Lakers need to get their mgt straight, the same mgt that extended him btw 3) Wants to be mediocre next year rather than better position for FA in 2015 Nobody's demanding that he take a paycut, but don't take the maximum amount of money you can get and then talk **** about being "all about winning". LBJ took a paycut, he was all about winning. Tim Duncan took a paycut, he was all about winning. Ray Allen took less money from Miami and left Boston, he was all about winning. Kobe not only demanded a max contract, he also chased Dwight Howard out of LA. And now he's gonna say he's all about winning? As the drawing would say, "Kirby Plz"
The cap is 60M, he's already making almost half of it by himself. Sure they can afford another max FA but they still have to surround the two of those with good players and they can't afford that if Kobe makes 25M and the new dude makes 20M. You expect them to contend with two stars and 13 other players worth 15M combined?
If you asked Kobe, he'd tell you he is already taking a paycut. http://www.basketball-reference.com/players/b/bryanko01.html Team 2013-14 2014-15 2015-16 Los Angeles Lakers $30,453,805 $23,500,000 $25,000,000
His contract next year is worth $23.5M. The max anyone else could offer was $20M (and some desperate team wanting to sell tickets WOULD offer that much if he had hit FAcy).
Another day, another verbal shot from the mouth of Kobe Bryant. Ever since the Lakers ‘convinced’ Bryant to sit out the remainder of the season, the Black Mamba has been firing off verbal missiles – both at teammates and the Los Angeles front office. Today was no different as Lakers guard Nick Young was asked what kind of trash talk he hears from Kobe Bryant. His response? That Kobe doesn’t talk to players on bad teams. Nick Young on the trash talk he hears from Kobe: “I don’t talk to players on teams that are 20 games under .500″ Ouch. http://fansided.com/2014/03/17/nba-rumors-kobe-bryant-takes-another-shot-los-angeles-lakers/#!AgKkd
Doesn't matter. Jim Buss pocketing extra money has nothing to do with the team cap situation according to league rules. That's what the whole discussion is for.
1. They can still get Kevin Love with Kobe's contract on the books 2. Kobe didn't take the max amount of money the Lakers could have offered 3. The amount of money LBJ passed up on, if any when you factor in taxes, is nowhere near the amount Kobe would be passing up. 4. The phrase all about winning is silly to begin with. If players were really all about winning they'd take huge pay cuts to team up but almost nobody outside of the Spurs have done that.
I didn't read the article all that closely but I didn't see him talking about being a championship contender next year. There is a middle ground between that and what the Lakers are doing right now.
And they won't be able to get anyone else, which means they won't be winning. Kobe's contract makes it damn near impossible for LA to build a contender around him. The amount Kobe took makes it damn near impossible for LA to build a contender around him. Which is fine, but don't fire shots at management when your deal makes it impossible to rebuild. So Kobe put money over rebuilding. No one is faulting him for that. We are faulting him for putting his team in that position then firing shots. Don't be a hypocrite. Smile all the way to the bank. Well then don't make silly comments about how nothing but winning matters. No there isn't. Kobe's cap killing contract makes it damn near impossible for LA to build a contender around him. LA won't be winning anything paying him that much $$ because he can no longer produce enough to warrant it.
if this is true - this is the absolute worst thing possible you can get from a teammate - especially a HOF teammate. This guy should be out there supporting his teammates the best he can - its not their fault that they are in a situation with multiple injuries and quite honestly playing at a much lower talent level than 85% of the teams they face. Kobe is partially to blame for the situation at hand with his actions (driving Dwight out) and unwillingness to take a step back now that Father Time has truly taken over his body. I actually feel bad for Nick Young - he grew up watching Kobe in LA like Farmar. A lot of those guys took small 1 year deals to play for the Lakers and learn alongside Kobe while trying to show that they belong in the league. For Kobe to treat them like that - it just leaves me speechless
Well said! Bryant has always been both an incredible player, and an absolute *******. How this whole Howard thing played out, and how its aftermath has played out, merely puts a spotlight on Bryant's two-faced, selfish personality. In my humble opinion.
How is there no middle ground between contending and having the second worst record in the West? The article says Kobe was talking about being back in playoff contention which is something the Lakers are far from right now. The Mavericks were able to be in playoff contention with a bunch of one year contracts just last year and one have likely made it with a healthy Dirk.
