ItsTheBlog™

Ever since Jerry Buss opened his mouth and said that the Lakers would still field offers for their superstar, the news has been abuzz. Perhaps I was wrong. I said that Kobe wouldn't be leaving and this was just Buss' rhetoric to appease the superstar. While I'll still hold to my opinion, despite just about every noteworthy sportswriter disagreeing with me, I think Kobe will still be around this season.

That said, Kobe apparently didn't take the news too lightly. He skipped 3 days of practice with the Lakers, citing sore knees, but it seems that the rumor mill simply claims that Bryant's just pissed. Then came reports yesterday, denied by Kobe, that he cleaned out his Laker locker. Kobe, rather, said he "reorganized" his locker. Crazy media.

That said, Kobe didn't sound too thrilled with the Lakers. When asked if he'd played his last game with the Lakers, Kobe said:

"I don't know, talk to Mitch and Mr. Buss about that."
"I'm just getting ready. If I'm here, I'm ready to strap it up."

Granted, this doesn't sound like a very happy man. But, in my opinion, the media has blown this way out of proportion for a couple of reasons.

First, as Buss stated in his original comments that pissed everyone off, you CAN'T get anything close to equal value for Kobe Bryant. And because of that, Buss won't pull the trigger on anything quickly. Buss is a Hollywood guy, and he knows the scene. He knows that the LA fans won't settle for a lineup of Josh Howard, Jason Terry, Kwame Brown, and Lamar Odom. Even the hottest rumor has a package from the Bulls centered around Luol Deng and/or Ben Gordon. Yes, they are good young players, but come on. Buss made this mistake once, getting back no superstars for that other superstar the Lakers traded to Miami in 2004. He won't make the same mistake twice.


Second, every thing Kobe does or doesn't say is being way too read into. Fox Sports released a great column today, mocking the situation. I was glad to see I'm not the only one that thinks that this has been pretty ridiculous.

So what does it all mean? I'm sticking to my opinion. Kobe's a Laker, and he will continue to be a Laker for a while. How long? Who knows? I think he'll remain all season, personally. The Lakers have no NEED to move him yet as he can't opt out until after next season. Come next summer, if things don't get better, they may want to move him so as not to risk him walking away for nothing. But, until then, the dust from this big game being played will settle, Kobe will play, and the Lakers will continue to be mediocre.

Best case scenario: the whole incident lights a spark in Kobe and he comes out and dominates and thrusts the Lakers up the standings. I'm not holding my breath, but I can dream, right?

One thing is for sure, we'll continue to monitor every move that Kobe makes, whether he plays in the preseason games, how he does, whether he high fives his teammates or yells at them. In any event, it's an interesting thing to watch it be Kobe and Phil vs. the world, as opposed to Kobe vs. Phil. Who would have ever thought that they would be allies? Stay tuned.

Labels: Bryant, Jerry Buss, Kevdog, Kobe, Lakers, NBA, Phil Jackson, stalemate, trade