Trade Kobe

[5times1]

The story lines that have engulfed the Los Angeles Lakers in the last week hit a crescendo Wednesday when Kobe Bryant said he would welcome a trade.

Kobe: "I would like
to be traded."

Kobe Bryant tells Stephen A. Smith on 1050 ESPN Radio in New York that he wants to be traded from the Lakers -- and that there's nothing the Lakers can do to change his mind. Listen

"I would like to be traded, yeah," Bryant said on 1050 ESPN Radio in New York. "Tough as it is to come to that conclusion there's no other alternative, you know?"

Bryant, interviewed by Stephen A. Smith, was asked if there was anything the Lakers could do to change his mind.

"No," Bryant said. "I just want them to do the right thing."

"[The Lakers] obviously want to move in a different direction in terms of rebuilding," Bryant said, adding he could have opted to sign with the Los Angeles Clippers or Chicago Bulls instead. "Three years ago when I was re-signing they should have told me they wanted to rebuild."

Asked if he had any preference for a trade destination, he said "At this point I'll go play on Pluto."

Earlier in the day, Bryant said team owner Jerry Buss masterminded the trade of Shaquille O'Neal -- and Shaq later confirmed Kobe's account.

The issues between Bryant and the Lakers have reached a boil, beginning with Bryant voicing his displeasure with the club's direction, his suggestion that Jerry West should return to fix things, West's statement that he has no intention of undermining GM/good friend Mitch Kupchak, and, unrelated but bizarre in its timing, Buss' arrest early Tuesday for investigation of driving under the influence of alcohol.

Bryant was left "beyond furious" by a report in Tuesday's Los Angeles Times that read, "as a Lakers insider notes, it was Bryant's insistence on getting away from Shaquille O'Neal that got them in this mess."

O'Neal was traded to the Miami Heat after the 2003-04 season, and the long-held belief has been that the deteriorating relationship between O'Neal and Bryant was a factor in O'Neal's departure.

Trade Kobe Bryant

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In response to the Times' story, Bryant, interviewed by Smith for a Philadelphia Inquirer column, said Buss "called a meeting with me after he spoke with Jim Gray [of ESPN] to talk with him about Shaq's future in the middle of the 2004 season.

"He met with me at the Four Seasons Hotel here [in Newport Beach, Calif.] across from Fashion Island, which is now the Island Hotel," Bryant told Smith. "I went up to his penthouse suite. [Buss] looks me dead in the face and says: 'Kobe, I am not going to re-sign Shaq. I am not about to pay him $30 million a year or $80 million over three years. No way in hell. I feel like he's getting older. His body is breaking down, and I don't want to pay that money to him when I can get value for him right now rather than wait.

"This is my decision. It's independent of you. My mind is made up. It doesn't matter to me what you do in free agency because I do not want to pay [Shaq], period.'"

"Dr. Buss said that," Bryant told Smith. "And I haven't said anything for years because I've always felt like folks were just looking to create controversy. Now I know. I realize what extent [the Lakers] will go to, to cover themselves."

Reached afterward, O'Neal told Smith that he believed his former teammate to be beyond reproach.

"I believe Kobe 100 percent," O'Neal said when reached in Los Angeles. "Absolutely. There's no doubt in my mind Kobe is telling the truth. I believe him a thousand percent.

"I would have respected Dr. Buss more as a man if he would have told me that himself, because I know he said it. But he didn't [tell me]. He never said a damn word to me."

[P562045]

I wonder if Kobe would mind being traded to the Heat?

[SiteWolf]

Can Kobe play 3rd base?

'cause ARod could also use a change of scenery.......not that the LA media would be any less likely to publicize any nights at strip clubs with women not his wife......

[ibzilly]

Hours after Kobe Bryant asked for a trade on Stephen A. Smith's radio show, he backed off after talking to Phil Jackson and told Dan Patrick he wants to be a Laker for life.

[herbhub]

If a player asks to be traded he shouldn't have the right to pick the teams he wants to go to.What is the purpose of a contract anymore, just a piece of paper.

[herbhub]

Originally Posted by SiteWolf

Can Kobe play 3rd base?

'cause ARod could also use a change of scenery.......not that the LA media would be any less likely to publicize any nights at strip clubs with women not his wife......

How bout a trade Arod for Santana +?

[dlc1483]

Can A-Rod hit the three??

[parrotheadduff]

Originally Posted by dlc1483

Can A-Rod hit the three??

Yes he has tripled before.

[lepconn]

Originally Posted by SiteWolf

Can Kobe play 3rd base?

'cause ARod could also use a change of scenery.......not that the LA media would be any less likely to publicize any nights at strip clubs with women not his wife......

Troy it is not a good thing when you hack into the admin port and start posting about arod!!

[h20guy]

I heard again this morning that Kobe wants out. He realizes that they can't make any good trades because of an injured Odom and Kwame. So he's the only option left. Out here in L.A. we all want him gone. He's a very talented player, but far from great. I've heard he'd only accept a trade to Chicago, (for Deng, Hinrich, the 9th pick, and Tyrus Thomas I think), or a trade to the Clippers (which they don't have too much to offer outside of an aging Mobley, and Tim Thomas). He still wants to play in a "good market", a "big name city" if you will. New York (which doesn't have the assets), Boston, Phoneix, etc.

P.S. I've also heard a rumor that there might be a possible trade in the works to send Kobe to the Suns for Barbosa, Marion, Banks, and their two first round picks. But I doubt Nash would want to play with Kobe.

[AzElvis]

It would make too much sense for Kobe to come here. We have part of LA here anyway and at every LA game the freaks come out. Not like we have any problems selling out. I hate to see Marion go. I mean he has so many intangibles. Quietly the best kept secret in the NBA. Barbosa has a ton of upside. Banks is a toss. Put we have a lottery pick next year. Why give that and an all-star and 6th man of the year? Makes no sense.

Oh I agree with wolfey on the venue change for Arod. I have only said it everyday for 2 years. LOL I left it alone though. Last place with the DRays...Arod steppin out on his wife. Bush-league move by calling for the Blue Jays ball in the infield. RIght there with the purse, slapped balls, and facial from Varitek. Yeah I left it alone. I feel for Yankee fans right now. I would even pull for them if they traded him.

[dlc1483]

LOS ANGELES—Although Kobe Bryant is withholding comment on whether or not he recently demanded to be traded from the Lakers, the star forward demanded many other things Monday. "I demand that Jerry West be put in charge of player personnel, that my jersey be retired while I am still active yet I be allowed to continue wearing it, that someone get me another VitaminWater, and that I get Shaquille O'Neal back," Kobe told reporters, fans, and Lakers front-office employees at the Staples Center. "Not that the Lakers get Shaq back, but me. I also demand to be inducted into the Hall of Fame at the end of the season; a deal for my own shoe with Nike, Reebok, Adidas, and Starbury; and that everyone love me. Now." Representatives of the Lakers, the Hall of Fame, Shaquille O'Neal, the major shoe companies, and VitaminWater say they are working to meet Bryant's demands.

[AzElvis]

What a lil girl. GUess Kobe will pout while the King has arrived. WOW. I wish I had seen it live. Gave up on NBA with the crap match-ups and the big jscrew Stern and his smug self , big words, and no vision. Instant classic?