Pretty transparent: Malone lept on an excuse to play for a real contender. I'm fairly sure that he's also noticed that Kobe's starving Odom for shots. Also, Malone's not ready to play. They can talk all they want about how he wants to be with his family for the holidays first, but I'll bet money he's still not in game shape. His injury was bad, and he looked badly hobbled when he returned. I doubt he can play at high level any more. Evan
Exactly. I don't see how anyone can take Karl's side in this. He is clearly waiting to see who's good before he returns. I hate Karl just as much as the next Rocket fan, but I thought he was man enough not to do something like this, basically gravy train his way to a ring. The guy needs to move on with his life and just deal with the fact he will retire with no rings.
We don't obviously know the nature of Kobe's private remarks on Malone, but I don't really see the big deal concerning the public comments. Kobe must have said something between the lines, because what he said explicitly shouldn't ruffle any feathers. It's not comfortable for a Lakers big man that Malone might come in and take away his job. Whatever. The "big bunch of babies" line really says it all. Kobe, Karl, Shaq, and Phil can all go to h***.
