Kobe forcing a trade. Or not.

[JoMal]

JoMaL how long have you been under that rock you call home?  Star players have dictated things management does for a very long time now.   It's going over a decade now.   Do you remember a Michael Jordan and the Wizards?  What about Shaq with the Magic?  What about Shaq when he got to the Heat that first year and didn't win the title?  Better yet how about Shaq when the Jazz were smacking us around in the playoffs year after year?   Would you like me to toss other names out there?   Didn't AI try to force Philly's hand because they couldn't get him the talent he needed?  What about Scottie Pippen in Portland?   Or are you selectively forgetting how many times star players have caused a fuss only to get their way?     Believe me we are plenty sick of hearing the media cover anytime a Laker so much as farts in the direction of downtown like a massive event.  That is just how things work out here with all celebrities.

Laker pride is why everyone wants him to stay and the organization to make moves to improve the team.  Not the other way around.  You don't give up the best perimeter player in the league because some guy up north has a personal vendetta against him.

Too bad none of those other situations apply.

Laker pride is way too deep and too righteous to put up with this situation. Kobe may be a great player but Lurker is totally correct in the assessment of his leadership. I still will argue that other players do NOT want to be moved to the Lakers - not any with their own pride, that is. You will and forever have to play second fiddle to Kobe and shelve your own game and personality way too much to accommodate Bryant, so the Laker management can never completely fulfill the true needs of the squad and fill it out even remotely to Kobe's liking, but will get criticized by Bryant for not doing enough, when I still feel the right mix can never happen because Kobe indirectly steers those types of players away.

The ultimate Catch-22 for the Laker management. Damned by fans like you, westkoast, if they trade Kobe, and damned by Kobe to never meet his expectations because the good players don't have any interest in fellating Kobe just to suck up space on the Laker roster.

[Reality]

So the question remains, did Carlos Boozer, Baron Davis and Ron Testy all have an interest in coming to the Lakers?  Did Kobester, (as he claims) actively help *recruit* all 3 and  encourage the Lakers to sign them and did Buss in turn sit on his hands?

Biggest one being Boozer. 

If true, Kobester should roll out.
If false, he is a bigger skank then even Jomal has pointed out.

[westkoast]

So the question remains, did Carlos Boozer, Baron Davis and Ron Testy all have an interest in coming to the Lakers?  Did Kobester, (as he claims) actively help *recruit* all 3 and  encourage the Lakers to sign them and did Buss in turn sit on his hands?

Biggest one being Boozer. 

If true, Kobester should roll out.
If false, he is a bigger skank then even Jomal has pointed out.

JoMaL is playing the assumption game as always when it comes to Kobe.  It's hard to point things out that you've made up yourself.  That's not saying some of it is not possible, it could be.  He doesn't know and loves to pass it off as such.

I could say you are a horrible juicer and never let your wife try to make her own but that shouldn't be considered pointing anything out as I don't know if what I am saying is even partially true.  The only difference between what I did and what JoMaL has been doing is that my magic crystal ball only has to travel about 100 miles to peer into your situation as JoMaL's has a very long distance to cover. 

[JoMal]

So the question remains, did Carlos Boozer, Baron Davis and Ron Testy all have an interest in coming to the Lakers?  Did Kobester, (as he claims) actively help *recruit* all 3 and  encourage the Lakers to sign them and did Buss in turn sit on his hands?

Biggest one being Boozer. 

If true, Kobester should roll out.
If false, he is a bigger skank then even Jomal has pointed out.

JoMaL is playing the assumption game as always when it comes to Kobe.  It's hard to point things out that you've made up yourself.  That's not saying some of it is not possible, it could be.  He doesn't know and loves to pass it off as such.

I could say you are a horrible juicer and never let your wife try to make her own but that shouldn't be considered pointing anything out as I don't know if what I am saying is even partially true.  The only difference between what I did and what JoMaL has been doing is that my magic crystal ball only has to travel about 100 miles to peer into your situation as JoMaL's has a very long distance to cover. 

News flash, wc. There has been a tremendous upswing in this thing called "News Coverage" that has shrunk the world down to walking size via the Internet and Television. You can find out juuuust as much about the number of fleas hovering around Phil Jackson's hinney from Timbuktu as you can living 100 miles out on the actual flea farm.

But then I never said I was being clairvoyant regarding the behind-the-scenes Laker actions or Kobesque ramblings and what they mean to the organization. I am just putting out my views on what seems to be the problem from the perspective of someone not joined at the hip of Lakermania.

Biased opinion? You bet. 

But argue about what I am proposing, NOT the perspective of the proposer. You being a Laker fan and living 'on top' of things only 100 miles away hardly qualifies you as the "unbiased" voice regarding this.

[westkoast]

So the question remains, did Carlos Boozer, Baron Davis and Ron Testy all have an interest in coming to the Lakers?  Did Kobester, (as he claims) actively help *recruit* all 3 and  encourage the Lakers to sign them and did Buss in turn sit on his hands?

Biggest one being Boozer. 

If true, Kobester should roll out.
If false, he is a bigger skank then even Jomal has pointed out.

JoMaL is playing the assumption game as always when it comes to Kobe.  It's hard to point things out that you've made up yourself.  That's not saying some of it is not possible, it could be.  He doesn't know and loves to pass it off as such.

I could say you are a horrible juicer and never let your wife try to make her own but that shouldn't be considered pointing anything out as I don't know if what I am saying is even partially true.  The only difference between what I did and what JoMaL has been doing is that my magic crystal ball only has to travel about 100 miles to peer into your situation as JoMaL's has a very long distance to cover. 

News flash, wc. There has been a tremendous upswing in this thing called "News Coverage" that has shrunk the world down to walking size via the Internet and Television. You can find out juuuust as much about the number of fleas hovering around Phil Jackson's hinney from Timbuktu as you can living 100 miles out on the actual flea farm.

But then I never said I was being clairvoyant regarding the behind-the-scenes Laker actions or Kobesque ramblings and what they mean to the organization. I am just putting out my views on what seems to be the problem from the perspective of someone not joined at the hip of Lakermania.

Biased opinion? You bet. 

But argue about what I am proposing, NOT the perspective of the proposer. You being a Laker fan and living 'on top' of things only 100 miles away hardly qualifies you as the "unbiased" voice regarding this.

Right and as if media sources are not bias themselves in both directions?  I could read the LA Times and learn about how wonderful Kobe is and then read the SacBee online and learn about what an enormous loser he is.  That wasn't the point I was making.  The point I was making is you are trying to tuck in assumptions made on your part into rumors and other information you've read in various places.

Sometimes a message is just as much about the messenger as it is the message.  I'll leave it at that.

[JoMal]

The point I was making is you are trying to tuck in assumptions made on your part into rumors and other information you've read in various places.

Sometimes a message is just as much about the messenger as it is the message.  I'll leave it at that.

I use these materials to reach CONCLUSIONS regarding what problems the Lakers experience having Kobe Bryant on their roster. There is enough information from ALL source material to conclude the Lakers would probably be better off in the long run by trading Bryant somewhere else.

I admit to having an opinion on the prolonged quandary the Laker management must deal with on staffing a team with Kobe Bryant constantly undermining them, just as I have opinions on any other topic of conversation discussed here. Assumptions that Kobe is manipulating the Laker management to do his bidding are no longer needed, since he clearly has that in mind by his continued media blitz on the issue, so on that I can see no point in requiring validation.

I feel that Kobe's "assumption" is to blame the Laker management for failing to sign viable players to the team and not the presence of himself on the roster, which logically should be factored into the discussion. Or his own trade demands.

Based on these facts, and they ARE facts, I propose the team just trade him and be done with it so they can concentrate on creating a better team for the future, because I DO believe it will not happen until they do.

So, the only things I am stating as FACTS here, are what you already know ARE the facts: Laker management can't seem to pull the trigger on any worthwhile trades; Kobe continues to badmouth them and occasionally demands the team trade him (which he probably believes they cannot do - PR disaster); oh, and the Lakers have little to offer in the trade scenario, and not enough to offer any worthwhile free agents under the salary cap.

I deduce they are having difficultly attracting good players because they would have to defer to Kobe once they did - a big deal for most ego-driven players and it has to be considered in this arguement - so many opt not to sign with Los Angeles.

I further conjecture that Kobe is keeping them away, based on these "media" stories and my own interpretations of them, and that it should not be this hard for the Lakers to get decent players at least in free agency.

So I finally conclude that the Lakers should just surprise the hell out of Kobe by trading him away. They could at least get some quality in return, if not high draft picks. A better all-round 'conclusion' to the melodrama.     

[westkoast]

The point I was making is you are trying to tuck in assumptions made on your part into rumors and other information you've read in various places.

Sometimes a message is just as much about the messenger as it is the message.  I'll leave it at that.

I use these materials to reach CONCLUSIONS regarding what problems the Lakers experience having Kobe Bryant on their roster. There is enough information from ALL source material to conclude the Lakers would probably be better off in the long run by trading Bryant somewhere else.

I admit to having an opinion on the prolonged quandary the Laker management must deal with on staffing a team with Kobe Bryant constantly undermining them, just as I have opinions on any other topic of conversation discussed here. Assumptions that Kobe is manipulating the Laker management to do his bidding are no longer needed, since he clearly has that in mind by his continued media blitz on the issue, so on that I can see no point in requiring validation.

I feel that Kobe's "assumption" is to blame the Laker management for failing to sign viable players to the team and not the presence of himself on the roster, which logically should be factored into the discussion. Or his own trade demands.

Based on these facts, and they ARE facts, I propose the team just trade him and be done with it so they can concentrate on creating a better team for the future, because I DO believe it will not happen until they do.

So, the only things I am stating as FACTS here, are what you already know ARE the facts: Laker management can't seem to pull the trigger on any worthwhile trades; Kobe continues to badmouth them and occasionally demands the team trade him (which he probably believes they cannot do - PR disaster); oh, and the Lakers have little to offer in the trade scenario, and not enough to offer any worthwhile free agents under the salary cap.

I deduce they are having difficultly attracting good players because they would have to defer to Kobe once they did - a big deal for most ego-driven players and it has to be considered in this arguement - so many opt not to sign with Los Angeles.

I further conjecture that Kobe is keeping them away, based on these "media" stories and my own interpretations of them, and that it should not be this hard for the Lakers to get decent players at least in free agency.

So I finally conclude that the Lakers should just surprise the hell out of Kobe by trading him away. They could at least get some quality in return, if not high draft picks. A better all-round 'conclusion' to the melodrama.     

Apply your super hero powers of reading what players around the league are thinking in regards to the Lakers and just 'sense' what I am going to say.  I don't need to spend time typing out to you if you can read peoples minds JoMaL.  Go ahead and even put words into my mouth.  I mean if you are going to run around and do it for all the players in the NBA you might as well not stop there.  Toss in some good sarcastic shots at me just for funny ha ha's while your at it!

[JoMal]

Apply your super hero powers of reading what players around the league are thinking in regards to the Lakers and just 'sense' what I am going to say.  I don't need to spend time typing out to you if you can read peoples minds JoMaL.  Go ahead and even put words into my mouth.  I mean if you are going to run around and do it for all the players in the NBA you might as well not stop there.  Toss in some good sarcastic shots at me just for funny ha ha's while your at it!

Apparently you have difficulty absorbing multiple conceptual notions thrown at you in a single post. This is good to know.

[Skandery]

Westkoast:  Toss in some good sarcastic shots at me just for funny ha ha's while your at it!

Jomal:   Apparently you have difficulty absorbing multiple conceptual notions thrown at you in a single post. This is good to know.

<tsk> You take things so literally JoMaL . . . 

[JoMal]

Westkoast:  Toss in some good sarcastic shots at me just for funny ha ha's while your at it!

Jomal:   Apparently you have difficulty absorbing multiple conceptual notions thrown at you in a single post. This is good to know.

<tsk> You take things so literally JoMaL . . . 

.....and to think I started out life illiterate.