Laker owner Buss not closing the door on Kobe trade
Jerry Buss has already shown that he’ll part with superstars. Yet upon hearing that the Los Angeles Lakers‘ owner would consider trading Kobe Bryant, even Shaquille O’Neal was shocked.
“I guess it’s business before loyalty. But, wow. He said that?” O’Neal said Thursday in
Buss indeed did, telling three Los Angeles-area beat writers covering training camp in
“At any time, I think you have to do that with anybody,” Buss said, discussing Bryant publicly for the first time since the often-frustrated Lakers’ star asked to be traded at the end of last season. “It’s just part of the game, to listen to somebody who has a dissatisfied player that you think is going to fit.
“You can’t keep too many loyalties. You’ve got to look at it as a business. He looks at it the same way I look at it.”
I like that Jerry Buss is responding to
Even though I like how Jerry Buss responded, I don’t think I would trade
As stated above, it really does put the ball back in Kobe’s hands. And it leaves it up to Kobe to make the next move. Does he want to stay? Or does he want to go? I think he’ll do his part to keep LA together, despite his issues with management. I know Kobe wouldn’t pull what Iverson did last year and sit out games with an “injury”. Kobe wants to play and he wants to win.
Although, I do agree that Buss hasn’t really brought in much help for Kobe. When we traded Shaq, the Lakers recieved, Lamar Odom, Caron Butler, and Brian Grant. Lamar hasn’t had a full consistent season in his time on the Lakers. Caron Butler was traded for Kwame Brown, one of the biggest busts in NBA history, and it doesn’t help that Caron is now an All Star. Brian Grant was released and was taking up a bulk of cap room up until last season. I understand Kobe’s frustration.
It’s been debated before, but, that Jason Kidd trade should have went through. They worked well in the FIBA Americas. Kobe has reached his peak and doesn’t have much years left. The Lakers don’t have much time to let Bynum develop. Trading Kobe now wouldn’t help at all. Who would we revolve the team around? Odom? Bynum? God forbid they have Kwame as a leader. Who could the Lakers receive in return? I’m sure there’s no ONE person that the Lakers could get that would fill the void left with Kobe’s departure. Maybe LeBron, but I’m pretty sure Cleveland’s not giving him up.
Buss should just try to satisfy Kobe’s needs, and make moves.
Kobe to the Clippers in the summer of ’04? If that happened, the Clippers would have had one decent player this season….
WOW!!!! What a shocker Kobe actually getting a wish he wanted, well Jerry Buss is STUPID!!!! Because Kobe wouldn’t want to be trade only if they traded Bynum for Kidd, then KOBE would be the happiest guy at this moment, but
NOOOOOOOO the manager couldn’t even do that; I bet he regretted it after the summer when he saw Kobe and Kid together in the Fiba Americas. Then come on the rumor about Shaun Marion make it true and get him, him and Kobe in the all star game play way better than Lamar and Kobe will probably ever play together. SO JERRY BUSS MAKE SOME TRADES, but not Kobe. Just imagine with out Kobe the Lakers will be just like the Clippers (in last place all the time) also its good that Kobe ball hogs some times because look at the team he has No ONE!!!! So that’s why he does it, just imagine if he had Garnet or Kid or Marion ANYONE!! He wouldn’t be ball hogging, he would be way better than he is at this moment, with less stress, less worries and he would be flashing his rings in front of Shaqs face. O and think about that Shaq if jerry buss didn’t trade him for 3 people who are and were worth less STILL who is left of them, yes even Lamar, Jerry Buss probably could have traded shaq for someone else, and yea Carron Came in that trade but what was the whole point if your going to trade him for a big tall guy that cant palm the dam ball, come on he’s so tall and yet cant palm it ahhahahaha trade Kwame, not Kobe, Jerry buss can trade anyone but Kobe if he does then well yea maybe then the Clippers will finally be better than the Lakers. To tell you the truth Kobe can beat the clippers himself come on he probably average about 36 or more points when they play the clippers. Now my example, really when I went to a laker game it seemed as Kobe was fine, just you can tell he is frustrated, but when I was at the game ahahah they were playing the clippers and beat them but yea back to where I was when I was at the game Kobe past the ball and only scored 29 points so he has improved with the passing just needs the players! SO JERRY BUSS if you ever read this plzzzzzz don’t trade KOBE just fire your self and go to the Clippers it won’t make a difference. They already suck!!!!!!!!
Well, I think that Jerry Buss is making the right move although some loyal Laker fans (*cough* hector *cough*) think he is stupid. The Jason Kidd trade wouldn’t have panned out for the Lakers either because it doesn’t matter how good your point guard is if no one on the team can make an open jumpshot. Even if the Lakers get Shawn Marion for Lamar they still aren’t going to win a whole lot, honestly Marion is not that much better than Odom. Marion is nothing more than a role player, he is only succeeding in Phoenix because he has such great talent around him and is rarely ever gameplanned against. Another down side to Marion is that he thinks he is a superstar, and expects superstar money, there is no question that with the numbers Marion puts up he is an All-Star but he isn’t a superstar because we all know that he cannot take over a game and MAKE his team win. Despite the fact that Marion sounds like a good option he really isn’t because he honestly doesn’t fit the Lakers needs that much because he cannot dribble worth a lick, and they have enough people who can’t dribble already(vujacic, mo evans, and whoever else they have playin guard besides farmar). If we look back at the past and the moves that Buss made I think that the Shaq trade was not an overall bad trade, but he treated what he got out of it the wrong way. I think he went way wrong when he let Caron Butler go. Caron Butler is a stud, he plays tough defense, he’s big strong and physical, and he can put points on the board. Caron is not a superstar though but gives you more on the offensive side than Marion and comes with a much lower price tag.
No on to Kobe. I understand why Kobe is acting the way that he is, its extremely frustrating to lose especially when he is as talented as he is. We all know he is the best all around player in the league and he deserves to be surrounded by some talent that will help him showcase his skills as a leader and a teammate. I think that the only thing he can do is ask for a trade, obviously like Purther said, its going to be next to impossible to get equal value in a trade for him because he is such a great player, the thing is though, if Buss does decide to make a move he needs to get as much young talent or draft picks as he possible can, and the fans need to understand that the Lakers NEED to rebuild or they will be ruined for the next 10-15 seasons. Oh, and making the playoffs when your team is rebuilding aint too shabby. Basically, for Buss to trade Kobe he needs to pull off a huge deal sort of like the Kevin Garnett deal to make the trade even worth it. Scoop up a handful of young players with talent, get some draft picks and build around them.
There are only two teams that I think have enough talent to give back in exchange for Kobe Bryant, one being the Atlanta Hawks and the other being the Chicago Bulls. I think another problem for rebuilding the team is the coach, I love Phil Jackson and I know that he is one of the greatest coaches of all time, but they need to stop wasting money on him because during the process of rebuilding they are going to have extremely young players and forcing them to learn the triangle offense will look absolutely foolish on the court. I think that they need to get a coach that will grow and improve along with the team, maybe someone who isn’t a great coach but is a great leader.
For Kobe’s sake no matter what trade goes through, if any, none will be much better than his situation with the Lakers, the ideal thing for him would be to somehow become a free agent so that he can go where he pleases. This is possible after the 2008-2009 season since he can opt out of his contract so whatever team he plays for this season must realize that he is definitely a short term thing unless they surround him with enough talent to stick around. Lakers fans I’m sorry to say this, but it seems that you guys wont be winning a whole lot of games in the new future, just hope and pray Buss doesnt turn the Lakers into the Knicks. If that happens then and only then will I feel sorry for you.
TRADE KOBE Mr. BUSS!!
MAKE HIM HAPPY!!
forget what everyone else says, do what you know is right, and trading him is right
I personally think Jerry Buss use to be a great owner, but now I think he doesn’t care. I don’t think he is really concerned about championship rings anymore. If he was, he would have already attempted to get better players around Kobe. Kobe is by far the best player in the league, and no one can really argue with that. The man scored 81 points in a game! Why is the best player in the league surrounded by a bunch of bums? Honestly none of the players on his team are anywhere near his level. What does Kobe have? Lets see…he has players like Brian Cook, Kwame Brown, Sasha Vujacic, Mo Evans, do I really need to say more? If your not a NBA fan you have no idea who any of those players are. Lamar is the closes to his level, but he never has reached his potential. He is to inconsistent. Him and Kobe have been on the same team long enough, and they just don’t go together that well. If Jerry Buss was concerned about rings he would have addressed that situation already. I understand Kobes frustration. Even though people call him a selfish player, there is one thing he loves more than his own game, and that is winning. He is the most competitive player in the league, and to loose in the first round must really hurt. Even though I understand his frustration, Kobe has to be realistic. The Lakers can get absolutely no value for Kobe. Kobe not only wins games, but he brings in fans. There is so many Kobe fans in Los Angeles. He fills stadiums. I don’t understand why Buss has not made any good moves. The Shaq trade was absolutely horrible. I personally think Bynum is started to look like the Kwame #2, he needs to step it up. Lakers have no big men to help Kobe out so they can have a inside outside game. The Lakers don’t really have any point guards that can take the pressure off of Kobe. (O that’s right, I forgot they picked up old man Derek Fisher over the off season.) I honestly do not think that the Laker management have any idea where they are going with the franchise. Kobe is not getting any younger and he wants to win now. What happened to the Mikan days, days with Jerry West and Elgin Baylor, the Showtime days, or the days with Kobe and Shaq. All of those championship years had at least two all stars. Now the Lakers is just the Kobe show. Its fun to watch, but they are not going to win rings. I honestly do not know what would be good for both parties. I think they should try there best to get better talent around Kobe. I really do not believe trading Kobe would be a good thing. It would put the Lakers in a hole deeper than they already are. As a NBA fan it’s a sad thing to watch. I guess we are just going to have to wait and see how well the Lakers do this season. Hey, you never know, they may surprise us. Hopefully.
I believe that Jerry Buss should trade kobe why? because he wants to be, the thing is if doesnt want to play for the lakers and he doesnt get traded and gets kept there, he wont want to do anything because he doesnt want to be in that team. Sadly like said above if he does get traded buss is not going to get anyone as good as kobe. Lakers arent going to be able to get anything good really.I’m not a big basketball fan but i know how teams work and also if kobe wont get traded i would think some teammates wouldnt respect the dude because it makes them feel like they arent good enough to play with him. So it would be a very corrupted team. So its better off to trade kobe so you don’t have to deal with any of it. They might pull off a good season but you really cant predict that with things always happening.
So my opinion is Trade Kobe and get this over with and work on rebuilding your team!
Yes, obviously Buss HAS shown that he would be willing to part with superstars. A trade, that I personally, do not think was worth it. I mean to give up Shaq, still possibly the most agressive center in the N.B.A., for Lamar Odom, Caron Butler, and Brian Grant? That was a bad move in my opinion, especially when the whole triangle offense was basically BUILT around Shaq, a dominant player in the paint. The three, Lamar Odom, Caron Butler, and Brian Grant, have not really even left a substantial dent in the Lakers. The closest one would have to be Lamar. He has shown that he can step it up when the time calls. And he has done so on more than one occasion, but it isn’t good enough to carry the team to victory. And it doesn’t help that Caron Butler blossomed more as a player AFTER he got traded.
Even Shaq was surprised to hear that Buss would trade Kobe. I was too. I didn’t, and still don’t beleive that he would be willing to give up the soul of the team.
I don’t blame Kobe for acting the way he has. Its A LOT of pressure to go out and win a game. Especially when you have virtually no help. What? Kobe doesn’t pass? Well look whos on his team. With the exception of a few, Kobe really doesn’t have anyone to pass to. Theres no one else who can step up and carry the team the way he does. Kobe plays like he does on the Lakers because he HAS to. If he wasn’t out there every game, busting his butt to make points, I highly doubt the Lakers would see victory. When Kobe gets the ball, you can almost SEE the points being made. Thats the kind of player he is. He is the best in the league right now and to give him up would be a HUGE mistake for Buss and to Los Angeles. If Kobe was traded right now, I could pretty much guarantee that the Lakers wouldn’t have a chance of winning any rings in the next several years.
I understand why Kobe’s been frustraded, but he loves LA. There might be that small thought in the back of his head that says he wants to be traded, but I beleive that he does not want to be. I know he wants to win. And I know that he would have a much better chance of doing so on another team. I want Kobe to be traded. Not so much traded, but to have a better team. I wish there was a way to give Kobe a better team and not leave LA at the same time. Personally, if Kobe left, I really don’t know if I would still be a Lakers fan. THAT is how important I bleieve Kobe is to the Lakers. They just would not be the same team without him. LA is Kobe’s home. And I think he’s here to stay. He’s been here from the start, and I’m pretty sure he’ll be here in the end.
I would have been really good with the idea of kobe going to the clippers as long as he is kept in LA. The clippers have a decent setup and putting kobe in ther would’ve helped them, but that was the past and it’s not going to happen anytime soon anymore. I understand why kobe wanted the trade at the time because of how the management/team was running, and if i was put in that position i would actually feel the same. Just as Mikey said kobe has reached his potential and it took him places, but there are only so many teams that he can carry on his shoulders. Kobe’s cast is filled with mediocre players in my opinion. It’s either they’re inconsistent, have no idea how the team works, or just lazy. What it really gave him though was a chance to to shine as an individual player which he did. It would be unfair to say it was like a one man army, but the amount that other players in the team put up couldn’t compare. I’m not saying it wasn’t Kobe’s fault either but there hasn’t been any players to carry a team so far by themselves. The supporting cast plays a big role, and what shocked me is that we didnt win the championship was when we had GP and malone.
I don’t believe that Kobe wanted a trade. If stated to the public that he did, it would freak out so many Laker fans and the management would be the only people that can change that. There is a chance that he wanted to just have the management make bigger decisions to fix a broken championship franchise.
The biggest dilemma would have been getting a fair trade. We honestly had the worst trade, quality wise, when we traded shaq. Lamar is a decent player, the others were not as good. Trading Kobe would have killed a franchise planning to build around another all-star. Jerry Buss as an owner is okay, his decision making hasn’t been the best lately. Mitch kuptchak is dumb. IF anything goes right while he is the GM it will be a fluke.
I think if he DID go to a different team, he wouldn’t change his style of play. The team would completely change and adapt to his level of comfort. Not that the other players wouldn’t be as good, but there are only so many players that you can revolve a franchise around.