By now, we're all pretty familiar with what's going on in Los Angeles with the Lakers. They are 0-4 for the first time in franchise history, and the now-cantankerous Kobe Bryant, one of the greatest players of all time, is no longer one of the top players in the league. And, perhaps more importantly, Bryant is no longer a player who attracts other stars, according to this story from ESPN.
Kobe Bryant insists he won’t ask for a trade from the Lakers
The Lakers star says he doesn’t want to leave Los Angeles, even for the chance to play for a contender.
Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports
That may be why Yahoo! Sports’ Marc Spears asked Kobe if he’d be interested in leaving the Lakers in order to join a contender. This was his response:
“I hear the chatter of Kobe should ask out and he should go and play for a contender in this latter stage of his career,” Bryant told Yahoo Sports. “But that’s not what I do. I’m extremely loyal to the Lakers. I believe in fighting through the tough times as well as enjoying the good times. It’s my responsibility to get us to be the best that we can be. It’s important that we approach that on a day-to-day basis.”
Kobe seems to suffering from a case of revisionist history here. Yes, he might be loyal now, but it's easy to be loyal to a team when its paying him $48 million over two years. Back in May 2007, an angry Bryant demanded a trade from the Lakers in an ESPN Radio interview with Stephen A. Smith, saying "At this point I'll go play on Pluto" when asked if he had an preferred destinations.
In the present, Bryant is trying to stay patient about his team’s slow start.
“We can’t get discouraged by it,” Bryant said. “It’s a very long season. You just have to stay the course. Keep on looking to improve, keep on looking to get better and things will eventually break. “I’ve enjoyed a great amount of success here. You can’t just enjoy the successful times and then run away from the bad ones. No, I don’t even think about [departing]. I’m a Laker.”
Remember: it’s easy to say you’re loyal when there are no other options. Bryant is making $23.5 million this year and is due to make $25 million next year, which isn’t exactly a contract many teams are willing or even able to take on. And that doesn’t even take into account the problems raised in that ESPN story, which detailed just why so many stars would prefer to not be teammates with Bryant.
But those aren’t the details that Kobe is going emphasize. In Bryant’s mind, he’s a Laker because he wants to be and because he chose them, not the other way around. The reality is that both sides chose each other, and now they’re both stuck with no lifelines in sight.
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