Kobe Bryant signs massive 2-year contract extension to stay with Lakers

Following months of speculation on when Bryant might be ready to come back from a torn Achilles tendon, this appears to be the first reference to an actual return date. On Tuesday, Lakers general manager Mitch Kupchak said that Bryant wasn’t ready to come back yet, but wouldn’t rule out the following two weeks.

With D’Antoni acknowledging the possible Friday return and Bryant reportedly making steady progress in his recovery, all sides appear to be gearing up for that date. D’Antoni said Saturday that he wasn’t looking past how Bryant performs in practice on Tuesday, but it’s clear we’re getting closer to the return.

Critics of the new contract came out in full force, both against the Lakers for making that commitment and Bryant himself for not taking less and giving the team more flexibility to improve. Bryant took notice of the criticism, lashing out at the people who ripped him for not accepting a smaller deal, according to Yahoo! Sports’ Adrian Wojnarowski:

While Bryant is upset with the people who are upset with him, he also does understand why the sentiment is out there. In short, Bryant is not a fan of the new CBA that has devalued the NBA superstar in general:

***

The way Bryant tells it, he didn’t even press for such a high dollar figure. The Lakers just gave it to him.

Bryant, 35, has been with the Lakers since his rookie season in 1996-1997. In sharing the news on Twitter, he said simply #Laker4Life:

While there are plenty of doubts as to whether Bryant’s on-court performance will merit the almost-$50 million price tag after he returns from his Achilles injury, there’s no disputing what he’s meant to the Lakers franchise. It will be extraordinarily difficult to surround Bryant with the proper pieces to chase a championship as his career winds down, but at least Los Angeles will get to see him retire a Laker. Buss, via Shelburne, said the team isn’t worried about Bryant showing he can still perform at a high level after the injury:

According to a column from Yahoo! Sports’ Adrian Wojnarowski, Bryant didn’t even have to ask.

That seems like a no-brainer. When someone offers you — an aging NBA shooting guard — $48.5 million over two years, you take it. Woj’s report explained that the Lakers came up with a plan in mind that would secure Bryant’s place on this roster while still allowing space for another max-contract player.

Anthony stated before the season that he would opt out of the final year of his contract and become a free agent this summer. While he has given no indication that he’d be interested in signing with the Lakers, he and Bryant are friends and people love to speculate.

As outlined by salary cap guru Larry Coon, Los Angeles could theoretically create enough cap space to sign Anthony in the summer, but doing so would almost certainly ensure them a weak supporting cast. Even if Bryant is able to return to superstar-level production following his injury, it’s hard to imagine the Lakers building a championship team around him and Anthony given how little cap room would be left to fill out the roster.