Kobe as good as gone?! Buss' older son seems to think so.

[westkoast]

Johnny Buss, the oldest son of Lakers owner Jerry Buss, sent a bulletin to friends on his MySpace.com page that contained a peculiar reference to the team's nine-time All-Star. 'If you've been following the Kobe drama, I want to let you know it's not really drama -- sometimes we all need to make a change in our lives and that's all it is,' Buss wrote. 'Popular or unpopular, when it's time, it's time. Good luck Kobe wherever you go!"

[Reality]

I heard Paris tell Linsay that Kobe is gonna try and get put on the medical ward floor before the trade happens.

[WayOutWest]

Interesting but for all we know that was some bogus "MySpace" fodder.

Should Kobe be traded I wonder which side of the fence the fans will fall on.  IMO Kobe was a total unprofessional crybaby.  After all the support Kobe has gotten from the Lakers, the Lakers deserved more than a Fiona Apple meltdown on the airwaves.  Now Kobe has but the organization in a now win situation, he's created decent withing the Lakers organization if he stays and of the flipside he's destroyed his trade value.  The Lakers cannot improve unless the get a big man for Kobe, there is no back court player as good as Kobe, LeBron, Wade and T-Mac come the closest but none have the complete game that Kobe posesses.  The Lakers and their fans are screwed, thanks Kobe, I'll think about that when I pay $200 for an average seat and $32 for a hotdog, beer and pretzel.

[Lurker]

$32 for a hotdog, beer and pretzel.

Must be cheap beer!   

[westkoast]

Interesting but for all we know that was some bogus "MySpace" fodder.

Should Kobe be traded I wonder which side of the fence the fans will fall on.  IMO Kobe was a total unprofessional crybaby.  After all the support Kobe has gotten from the Lakers, the Lakers deserved more than a Fiona Apple meltdown on the airwaves.  Now Kobe has but the organization in a now win situation, he's created decent withing the Lakers organization if he stays and of the flipside he's destroyed his trade value.  The Lakers cannot improve unless the get a big man for Kobe, there is no back court player as good as Kobe, LeBron, Wade and T-Mac come the closest but none have the complete game that Kobe posesses.  The Lakers and their fans are screwed, thanks Kobe, I'll think about that when I pay $200 for an average seat and $32 for a hotdog, beer and pretzel.

He was an unprofessional crybaby.  Much like the Lakers front office was being unprofessional by leaking information.  The problem is Kobe had to go about it like a child.  He could have easily got it off his chest in a different way.  "Hay that was not the case, Jerry Buss and I met at The Island Hotel where he told me Shaq was gone anyways.  I had nothing to do with it and I don't appreciate a lie being told" BAM that's it! 

People are going to side with Kobe because #1 he still is one of the best and most hardworking players in the league and #2 fans are frustrated also.  Maybe they are not just going  to support Kobe but because a lot of Laker fans have wondered why the Lakers organization  have not tried to make serious moves.  After they lost to PHX they kept the exact same core of guys.  The one lame addition they made to take them to the next round was Radmonvich who ended up being a bust the first month of the season.  I don't know a single basketball fan who thought Radmonvich was the answer to the first round exit.  Kobe's frustrations are similar to a lot of fans frustrations.  I personally don't expect the Lakers to turn into a contender over night but they certainly have not seemed like they are actively trying to improve the team.  To make matters worse...long before the Kobe cry baby BS was the fact they announced ticket prices were going up.  The Staples Center is not improving, the staff is not getting paid more, and the team has not added all these big contract players that need to be paid...what's the deal?   They want the fans to continue to pay more but will not go about trying to land top talent?

Beer is 8 bucks (domestic) and 10 bucks (imports) respectively but I've heard that a dollar is going to be tagged onto both for the upcoming season along with increase ticket prices and merchandise prices.