Thread: Kobe: Hire West or trade me

Originally Posted by TooCool

You guys need to get your facts straight. Kobe/Shaq had a feud, yes. But it was NOT the reason why we traded Shaq away. Shaq wanted more money for being the slob that he is. The Lakers front office knew he only had 1-2 years left in him only. And yet Shaq wanted like 30+ something million for that. It was time to let him go.

Did Shaq win a Championship with the Heat? Yes. That was in his 1-2 year span. Look at him this year, he didn't make much of a difference now did he? He's on the decline.

All this talk of Shaq wanting more money is silly. So what? He was under contract for two more years. That's right. . .the same amount of time it took Miami to win a championship with him. Let me ask you something. . .at what point did the Lakers trade Kareem? Magic? They didn't. Why? Because the odds in winning were better with both of them around.

I've stated before too, there is NO way Kobe stays and re-signs with the Lakers if Shaq isn't traded. Anyone that thinks that is out of their mind.

Originally Posted by TooCool

For Kobe, we still have 5-8 years of him still being able to do what he has to do. I like that he is demanding the Lakers do something... because like I said previously. We all wanted Kevin Garnett to do the same thing so he can get traded here. KG has no balls do to it. Kobe does, and I give him tons of respect for that... because the Lakers WILL make a move. Even if it's not a huge one, thanks to the salary cap issue... it'll be a good one indeed.

Guarantee Kobe isn't doing what he's doing for another 8 years. The guy has played 10 years in the league and four of those he went and played another 20+ games in the playoffs. Tack on roughly another 100 games on the other six years and you've got a guy that "league wise" is in his early to mid 30's. If you think he's got another 8 years in him, I wonder why you wanted to trade Shaq when he was 33? Here's the deal, the Lakers are absolutely stuck on the salary cap. Only way they get a guy like KG or O'Neal is if they get rid of two starters and two backups. THE LAKERS NEED A POINT GUARD AND NEED TO PLAY DEFENSE!

Originally Posted by TooCool

You guys need to get your facts straight. Kobe/Shaq had a feud, yes. But it was NOT the reason why we traded Shaq away. Shaq wanted more money for being the slob that he is. The Lakers front office knew he only had 1-2 years left in him only. And yet Shaq wanted like 30+ something million for that. It was time to let him go.

Did Shaq win a Championship with the Heat? Yes. That was in his 1-2 year span. Look at him this year, he didn't make much of a difference now did he? He's on the decline.

For Kobe, we still have 5-8 years of him still being able to do what he has to do. I like that he is demanding the Lakers do something...

So tell me are you happy we traded Shaq and like where we are now? Because this franchise has no direction right now. At least with Shaq we were winning playoff games. He won 3 NBA Finals MVPs and was the only bright spot in our loss to Detroit in the finals. I'd rather have an overpaid Shaq than 30 million dollars of crap on the Lakers roster that we have had the last 2-3 years. I mean who cares about the money?This is the Lakers, they are like the Yankees of the NBA. Kobe is demanding something to be done because his legacy in the NBA is on the line. Couple that with the Laker fans growing restless by the minute, the pressure is on to get something done this offseason. The question is does any team want to work with us?

Kobe is partly responsible for creating this disaster so why should we trade him to another team so he has a chance to win another title? I say he stays with the Lakers and bites the bullett along with the rest of the organization.

Originally Posted by Kingslaw

Kobe is partly responsible for creating this disaster so why should we trade him to another team so he has a chance to win another title? I say he stays with the Lakers and bites the bullett along with the rest of the organization.

You want to do what's best for the Lakers, it's not about spiting Kobe or appeasing him. Right now you can possibly get a big chip for him to help rebuild your team. The longer he hangs around complaining and getting older the less value he will have. Especially when he leads you to a couple more early playoff exits.

The other option is to try and bring in a player who can not only work well with him on the court but put up with the Kobe show 24/7. Seems to me you guys might be better off getting rid of him while you can get something of value back. Let someone else deal with his nonsense, you're not going to win again with him.

Im not the biggest basketball fan. And I'm not familiar with salary cap rules in the NBA. But, it seems to me that Kobe has singlehandedly put the Lakers in a real tight spot. With a contract like his, the Lakers don't seem to have the room to make any significant moves. Sure, they can bring in a big player or two, but then will only be able to rely on those two or three guys to carry the games. It seems to me that a team with a capabe bench beats the team with 3 great players and a bunch of chumps.

Originally Posted by Kingslaw

Kobe is partly responsible for creating this disaster so why should we trade him to another team so he has a chance to win another title? I say he stays with the Lakers and bites the bullett along with the rest of the organization.

Sounds like cutting off your nose of to spite your face...

Originally Posted by Italian Seafood

The longer he hangs around complaining and getting older the less value he will have. Especially when he leads you to a couple more early playoff exits.

Not that I care one bit about the NBA or Lakers but Kobe isn't the reason the Lakers go out in the first round of the playoffs. He's probably the only reason the team made the playoffs to begin with.

Originally Posted by lath19

Not that I care one bit about the NBA or Lakers but Kobe isn't the reason the Lakers go out in the first round of the playoffs. He's probably the only reason the team made the playoffs to begin with.

I agree. But this is as far as he's taking you now, as good as he is. That's my point. I'm not saying cut him loose, I'm saying he's of huge value, but probably moreso to another team. He's not Jordan, he's not taking you to the title by himself with everyone playing by his rules. Another team maybe, and if the right deal is there that can set the Lakers up for their future, they'd be crazy not to take it.

In other Lakers news Jerry Buss Arrested...

http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2007..._275_29_07.txt