I don't think there's anybody with a more self-destructive streak than Kobe Bean Bryant. I hate to call it self-destructive because he has done a great job of destroying the Lakers first. But it is self-destructive because he was once the golden-boy of the NBA. Then he got involved in that Colorado rape business and threw all of that away. Then he got Shaq traded, Phil fired and Malone kicked out. Thats an entire career of controversy and this guy managed to squeeze it all in in 2 years. Lately, he seemed to be working on re-constructing his entire image from scratch. He let Phil back in. He also treated him well. His media image has changed drastically and over the last year, his demeanor seemed to have evolved in to that of a nice young man. He also seemed to turn to religion a little bit. Of course, all of this could have been the handiwork of his handlers who also astutely had him change jersey numbers form 8 to 24 to erase the old "rape-days" from people's memory. He seemed to be more popular than ever this past season and was the biggest name in the NBA, well on his way to becoming the biggest name may be in all of Sports.
Now comes this off-season and things are back to square one with this dude. Soon after the playoff elimination at Phoenix, he did say the Lakers need to get better and get better NOW. That was fine and even harmless though it got a a lot of press. Then over the course of a few days over the memorial day weekend, things seem to have exploded out of control. First, we heard the same assertion that he wanted the Lakers to get better and he said he wants Jerry West back running the show. Also released as part of that discussion was how he would like to be traded if they didn't get West back. The next day, he came out and denied he asked for a trade. By this time, many columns have been written on this whole saga and some "Laker insider" had said it was Kobe's fault that the Lakers sucked in the first place because he got rid of Shaq. Kobe then went back to that tired old issue again on his website, this time exposing some private conversations he had with Jerry Buss and Kobe claims Buss said he was not going to re-sign an old, decaying Shaq regardless of what Kobe thinks. I am sure this is true, but may be Buss just said that to Kobe and made that decision because he knew that'll make Kobe happy?
So the very next day, today, Kobe comes out kicking and screaming and openly asking for a trade. Apparently, a couple of things upset him. One, he is upset the "Laker insider" blamed him for losing Shaq. He says he knows him and wants his fired. Secondly, he says Jerry Buss lied to him when he told him they'll do whatever it takes to win. He is upset that Buss told Phil during the same time that they can't renew his contract because they are "rebuilding". Kobe is saying Buss told 2 different things to him and Phil and he lied to someone. Then he came back 3 hours later on another radio show and is now saying he doesn't want to be traded and is backing off a little bit. Apparently he spoke to Phil today and Phil said lets figure all this out together.
What in the World is happening with this guy? He went from trade-to-notrade-to-trade-to-notrade again. I thought he was much smarter than this. All this drama in 3 days. Kobe is basically way off-base on all this. First off, shut-up and keep it all in-house. Don't talk to some radio show every 3 hours and think aloud in front of the whole world. Think first, make up your mind and then speak to the press. Secondly, don't say the Lakers are not committed to winning. May be they are trying their best, but they are just not good at it. I don't think Jerry Buss is trying to save money and keep the payroll down or anything like that, it's just that their moves have not worked out. Thats not a lie, thats just incompetence. And guess what, every year there are 29 incompetent teams and just one competent team in this league. Thats just the way sports work. Also, even if Buss did say to Phil that they were re-building, it might have just been a nice way of saying "we don't want you back". He may not have meant it. On top of all that, it is true they were re-building with Kobe because they just traded Shaq away. They were not going to win the championship the year after they traded Shaq. Kobe knew that it was some sort of rebuilding. What exactly is he complaining about?
Bottom-line, Kobe is clueless and is over-reacting. The only thing funnier than this is these damn talking heads like Screamin' A Smith defending him because Kobe gives them the interview and these fools want to be in his good books. Disgusting! In the midst of all this, Jerry Buss gets arrested for DUI with a 23 year old hottie in his car. What a life this guy is enjoying? Also, Shaq got in on the discussion about his trade and he now says he believes Kobe 100% and it was all Jerry Buss's fault. Whatever.
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