Hot off the wire from an ESPN radio interview.
We have many serious NBA fans here and some serious Laker fans as well. Any reaction or comments?
--------------------------------------------------------LOS ANGELES (AP) — Kobe Bryant asked to be traded from the Lakers on Wednesday, a day after calling the team's front office "a mess." He said there was nothing the Lakers could do to change his mind.
"I would like to be traded, yeah," Bryant told ESPN radio. "Tough as it is to come to that conclusion there's no other alternative. It's rough man, but I don't see how you can rebuild that trust. I just don't know how you can move forward in that type of situation."
Bryant, who helped the Lakers win three consecutive NBA championships, has four years left on the seven-year, $136.4 million contract he signed July 15, 2004. That was a day after Shaquille O'Neal was traded to the Miami Heat.
Bryant became infuriated Tuesday when a Los Angeles Times columnist quoted what he called a Lakers insider as saying it was Bryant's insistence on getting away from O'Neal that prompted the trade to Miami.
Bryant, the NBA's leading scorer the past two seasons, said he spoke with Phil Jackson on Tuesday, and the coach told him he was being let go because the Lakers were committed to reducing payroll and rebuilding long term.
"They said nothing to me about a long-term plan — absolutely nothing," Bryant told KLAC radio, the Lakers' flagship station. "They told Phil one thing and they told me another. Actions speak louder than words."
"It's a trust thing," he added. "They're in a long-term plan that I had no idea about."
The Lakers and Bryant's agent, Rob Pelinka, did not immediately respond to messages left by The Associated Press.
Bryant, an 11-year veteran who turns 29 in August, urged the team at season's end to do what it takes to get back into contention. He essentially repeated those comments last weekend in an interview with the Los Angeles Times.
On Tuesday, Bryant did a series of radio interviews bashing the Lakers. He contended owner Jerry Buss misled him three years ago, saying the team would try immediately to rejoin the NBA's elite.
"That place is a mess," Bryant said, referring to the Lakers' front office. "If we're not making strides here to improve this team right now, to be aggressive in that nature, then what's the point of having me here?"
The 74-year-old Buss was arrested Tuesday in Carlsbad for investigation of driving under the influence of alcohol. He was released later in the day.
Bryant earned $17.72 million last season and is owed $88.6 million over the next four years. He can terminate his contract following the 2008-09 season — a move that would leave $47.8 million on the table.
By requesting a trade, Bryant would obviously waive his no-trade clause, but he has a trade clause in his contract that is believed to add about $13 million to his total contract value, a cost to be absorbed by any team that acquires him.
That money would be paid like a signing bonus and would not count toward the salary cap. The Lakers had to pay a similar fee to Lamar Odom when they acquired him from Miami three years ago, paying him about $8 million.
We have many serious NBA fans here and some serious Laker fans as well. Any reaction or comments?
what a baby.
