West Coast Connection Forum
Lifestyle => Sports & Entertainment => Topic started by: GangstaBoogy on May 27, 2007, 02:37:09 PM
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Its in the breaking news box on ESPN News. This is going to be one interestingly intense off-season...
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like i said in the other topic, its inconsiderate on the management's behalf to just tell kobe to kick back and wait for everybody else to develop, in hopes that maybe one day they'll have a contender team when kobe is no longer in his prime. kobe is undisputedly the best player in the world and they need to think long and hard on what they want to do next.
if they get a chance to get a star player without having to give up odom, yet decide to pass on it again because of jim buss' infatuation with bynum, then i guarantee you kobe will be ripping his hair from his head as soon as he reads about it in the papers.
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Kobe Bryant isn't happy with the Lakers' direction and wants Jerry West back in Los Angeles to fix things.
Bryant told ESPN The Magazine's Ric Bucher that he wants the Lakers to bring West back to the organization and give him full authority. If the Lakers don't want to do that, Bryant said he wants to be traded.
Bryant is frustrated that the team has not made any significant moves since it re-signed him.
"I want to see us get to a contending level," he told The Los Angeles Times. "I want to see us become a championship contender. It's been a frustrating process for me and I'm sure it's been a frustrating process for all Laker fans. I'm just hoping we can get to that level. I'm still frustrated. I'm waiting for them to make some changes."
Mitch Kupchak is the current Lakers general manager.
West, who spent five seasons in Memphis, will leave his post as the Grizzlies' director of basketball operations July 1 at the end of his contract. West helped build the Lakers' dynasty in the '80s and engineered their rebirth in the '90s, overseeing seven NBA championship teams -- including back-to-back champions in 1987-1988 and three consecutive crowns from 2000-2002.
In Memphis, West never had the advantages he enjoyed in the large market of Los Angeles, where he signed Shaquille O'Neal and traded Vlade Divac for Bryant.
Bryant averaged 31.6 points per game in 2007 as the Lakers qualified for the seventh seed in the Western Conference with a 42-40 record. Los Angeles lost in five games to the Suns, however, and the Lakers haven't won a championship since O'Neal was traded to the Heat.
http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=2884339
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LOL, DAMN!!!! NIK's heart is going to be broken if Kobe leaves LA....
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I don't blame Kobe on this one, but it does seem like a real diva move on his behalf................
If Kobe gets traded, what do you think they'd get in return?
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If Kobe gets traded, what do you think they'd get in return?
The Lakers will NEVER trade Kobe Bryant, man.
If Kobe is serious they'll sign West.
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kobe is not going anywhere anytime soon
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Oh my god, I love this.
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NIK is on suicide watch right now.
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Jerry West should not have left in the first place.
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I was on PokerStars today and noticed this:
(http://img296.imageshack.us/img296/2259/kobeeo3.jpg)
NIK taking up poker?
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Bitch move by Kobe.
Yeah I said it.
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lol
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This should be interesting.
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i want jerry west back too, for once i'm with kobe on this
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Bitch move by Kobe.
I reluctantly agree.
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trade him! fuck it, get some good players for him then trade off odom + kwame/etc and build a real contender.
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Bitch move by Kobe.
I reluctantly agree.
yeah I agree... but when your front office is sleepin during 3 years, what do u expect ? Well all know Kobe is not patient at all , the front office knows it... we have a dominant player, the FO ain't able to build a contender around him.. what more can I say.. though I agree Kobe should have make it clear earlier, instead of talking about it's "a process, a growin team" BS and basically saying the total contrary after the loss in Game 5.. now our franchise is in real trouble... it's a win or lose situation ;
1) West is back, do his best , we can contend very soon
2) Kobe is traded ,after I see what we had for Shaq, I don't wanna even think the players we are going to have for Kobe ...
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How is this a bitch move by Kobe? He's not a Vince Carter type of player, he's a Michael Jordan type of player - the legacy he leaves behind means everyting. He doesn't want to finish his career with 3 championship rings that people give Shaq all the credit for. The front office has just waisted 2 years of his prime by surrounding him with useless players like Smush Parker, Brian Cook, Von Wafer, Sasha Vujacic, Kwame Brown, Chucky Atkins, and Vladimir Radmanovic. At this point, I wouldn't blame him for feeling like this. If the fans are this frustrated I can't imagine how he must feel.
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Nobody put a gun to his head and made him sign the contract. I am not feeling sorry for a guy making 100 million dollars. If he wants us to sign another player then he should take a pay cut. Make it happen. Kobe is my favorite player, but this is a bitch move. I don't condone any player asking for a trade. If you didn't want to play for the team then why the fuck did you sign the contract?!
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its about fucking time kobe spoke up and fuck all the waiting for these players to develop the time is NOW.
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kobe's not going to win another title regardless of what team he's on.
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BTW I think now it's clear that he wants some players with trade value to be traded.... he wouldn't push it like this if all he wants is an MLE nigga and some vet min niggas... ya dig? So basically he wants a GM with balls. And maybe he also wants to be the inofficial co-GM. Shit's going to be wild this summer. If nothing big goes down, Lakers should really consider trading his ass, as hard it may sound... because if he opts out and leaves them with nuttin, they gon suck ass for a long ass time.
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im not gonna say i told yall so, but ric bucher's discussion with kobe confirmed everything i've been saying this past season. "i just cant wait for this current team to develop."
i consider myself one of the more optimistic laker fans here, but all these unrealistic fanatics act like kobe and phil jackson would care more about the progress of their youngsters than they would care about fully utilizing the best player in the world by putting reliable, established stars around him and winning some championships before he starts declining. unfortunately, kobe is not that generous. kobe wants to add onto his own legacy, and he wants to do it with the laker franchise. whether or not thats selfish is up to u.
but the matter of the fact is unless u want to lose kobe, get him some fuckin star power. everybody knows jerry west is the man to do juss that, hes smart enough to recognize that kobe is a natural-born champion and would capitalize off of it as soon as possible. we all love the scrubs of our team so its natural to hope they become superstars in the future, but any time we give up a chance to trade one of them for some more proven talent is going to be unacceptable in kobe's mind, and thats juss somethin were gonna have to deal with (or not, if u want to trade kobe).
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lawl No different than Shaq demanding money from Buss!
How dare Kobe do that!!?!
lolocaust
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because if he opts out and leaves them with nuttin, they gon suck ass for a long ass time.
even if we trade him, we are gonna suck ass.. you always lost when you trade for a superstar (read Oneal, Iverson ect..)
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ESPN said kobe wants to be traded so it must be true..
(http://img264.imageshack.us/img264/9950/smal6ey.png)
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NIK is now NIB.
Now Im Bynum.
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Lakers been bad lately...so why not get West back?
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In the end Kobe Bryant is not the GM or owner of the team. Teams that are controlled by the desires of one player never end up in a good position. The Lakers gave up Shaq so that he would stay in L.A. He signed the 7 year deal, he wanted to lead the team, and as the super star of the
Lakers NBA when his team is not winning the first person he should look at his himself. I haven't seen him do that once. You may say "what more can he do?". My answer would be not much, but that still doesn't give him the right to go out and publicly blame everyone in the organization but himself. He made it clear he wanted change, the Lakers are listening, now he's just taking things too far.
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Kobe Bryant's 11-year tenure with the Lakers took another unexpected turn Sunday when the All-Star guard voiced the need for the franchise to reacquaint itself with a familiar face — Jerry West.
West, who turns 69 today, was the architect of four championships during his reign as the Lakers' general manager and executive vice president from 1982 to 2000.
After presiding over "Showtime" championship teams in 1985, 1987 and 1988, West helped the franchise retool in 1996 by plucking a fresh-faced Bryant from the Charlotte Hornets a week before signing Shaquille O'Neal as a free agent from the Orlando Magic.
Bryant has maintained a relationship with West since his NBA career began and made no secret of his desire for the Lakers to bring him on board, which could be awkward for General Manager Mitch Kupchak, who was West's protege.
"My feeling on Jerry West is I trust him completely," Bryant said. "I don't want to get into people believing me to be bashing anybody. Mitch is a great guy. All I can go by is what has happened with this team the last two years, and I know Jerry West is a guy who's great at what he does.
"He wants to win and he wants to win right now. I can roll with that, even if we don't have the complete turnaround we're hoping to have this summer. Just having him back in the nucleus will help."
Lakers officials declined to comment about West, who will complete an up-and-down five-year run as the Memphis Grizzlies' director of basketball operations when his contract expires July 1.
The Lakers couldn't begin negotiations with West until that time, although a source close to West said he might simply choose to retire.
If not, West would have to consider whether to return to the team. West and Kupchak are close friends, and West would have to weigh the public's perception and Kupchak's feelings of such a move undermining Kupchak's authority, even if West returns only as a consultant.
Lakers Coach Phil Jackson would be fine with West returning, said a source close to Jackson, despite the fact West and Jackson were not on overly friendly terms when West stepped down in 2000.
West has kept a home in Bel-Air through the years and is expected to move back to Southern California after his term with the Grizzlies ends.
Kupchak has been the team's general manager since West retired in August 2000, citing a desire to be "unburdened with the pressures of professional athletic business" after 18 years of calling the shots for the Lakers. West was hired by the Grizzlies in April 2002. Kupchak has one year left on his contract with the Lakers.
Bryant said he did not link his future with the Lakers to the hiring of West, as ESPN.com reported Sunday. He has not asked for a trade and did not foresee seeking one if West was not hired.
"I would love for him to be a part of this," Bryant said. "But it's not something where I demand he comes here. All I can do is offer my thoughts. I love being a Laker. I want to retire a Laker. I want to fix this thing, or at least help any way I can."
One way Bryant can't help is financially.
He has four years and $88.6 million left on his contract but can't take less money to help the team acquire a big-name free agent because the collective-bargaining agreement between the NBA and the players' union forbids negotiating contracts downward in order to create salary-cap space.
Unlike in the NFL, contracts in the NBA are strictly guaranteed and binding, although Bryant can terminate his in two years, not that the Lakers can envision it.
Jim Buss, the team's vice president of player personnel, recently told The Times he feels that, quite simply, "Kobe Bryant is a Laker for life."
The franchise is hoping for more patience from Bryant after his stepped-up unhappiness over the last month. Bryant told The Times on Saturday he was "still frustrated" with the direction of the team and was "waiting for them to make some changes."
The Lakers have been eliminated in the first round of the playoffs the last two seasons.
Two of their main trading pieces, Lamar Odom and Kwame Brown, received unfavorable medical reports in recent weeks, which could make trades difficult in the near future.
Odom underwent surgery two weeks ago to repair a torn labrum in his left shoulder, a procedure that will require about four months of recovery time.
Brown will have surgery this week to remove bone spurs from his left ankle and could face reconstructive surgery to ligaments in the ankle that would potentially sideline him for several months.
West experienced highs and lows while with the Grizzlies.
He was the league's executive of the year after Memphis finished 50-32 in 2003-04. But the Grizzlies were swept in the first round of the playoffs three consecutive seasons and had the league's worst record (22-60) this season.
Translation: Kobe doesn't want to waiste his time while the management tries to develop Bynum and Farmar.
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"I would love for him to be a part of this," Bryant said. "But it's not something where I demand he comes here. All I can do is offer my thoughts. I love being a Laker. I want to retire a Laker. I want to fix this thing, or at least help any way I can."
Well then this topic is pointless.
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Don't shoot the messenger beezy.
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LOL, wheres Nik!!?!?!?
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Solution: bring back shaq ;D
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LOL, wheres Nik!!?!?!?
Likely killed himself already..........
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LOL, wheres Nik!!?!?!?
Oh you didn't hear? He finally found the shut down option on his computer. Maybe he'll realize that if he turns that lil knob on his door it'll take him to a world outside of the internet.
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LOL, wheres Nik!!?!?!?
Oh you didn't hear? He finally found the shut down option on his computer. Maybe he'll realize that if he turns that lil knob on his door it'll take him to a world outside of the internet.
LMAO
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http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=2884792 (http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=2884792)
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LOL, wheres Nik!!?!?!?
Oh you didn't hear? He finally found the shut down option on his computer. Maybe he'll realize that if he turns that lil knob on his door it'll take him to a world outside of the internet.
That's some funny shit................
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On ESPN right before the game Jerry West released a statement saying he doesn't have plans to sign with ANY organization :-[
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May 28 :: 2007
The Truth: I haven't asked for a trade
Was up you all.
Haven't checked in in a while,
I'm sure you guys have been hearing all this and that and are not sure what to think or believe.
The Truth section was created for times such as these.
So here's tha deal:
I have NOT asked to be traded, I don't want to be traded and I have given no ultimatums or demands of being traded.
I love it here in LA, my family loves it here.
I've been a laker fan my whole life. A REAL Laker fan! I'm talkin Silk Wilks days, and know the history of the Lakers going back to George Mikan era. I WANT to retire a Laker and contend for titles.
It is my opinion that Mr Clutch, one of the greatest GMs the game has ever seen would b able to get us to back to that level sooner rather than later.
If he is available, then it makes sense to give him the reigns and let him do what he does BEST. I KNOW I can trust him to build us an elite team.
I'm tired of losing and I'm sure you guys are tired of it as well.
Now is the time to step up and make some things happen. We have all have waited patiently for three years...Let's GO!
- Strength and Honor
from www.kb24.com
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Bitch move by Kobe.
Yeah I said it.
It's called the Magic Johnson...
BTW, Kobe never said he wanted to be traded. Some more media made BSPN shit...Ric Bucher has no proof of this whatsoever, that guy is a piece of shit.
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kobe's not going to win another title regardless of what team he's on.
LMAO
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BTW I think now it's clear that he wants some players with trade value to be traded.... he wouldn't push it like this if all he wants is an MLE nigga and some vet min niggas... ya dig? So basically he wants a GM with balls. And maybe he also wants to be the inofficial co-GM. Shit's going to be wild this summer. If nothing big goes down, Lakers should really consider trading his ass, as hard it may sound... because if he opts out and leaves them with nuttin, they gon suck ass for a long ass time.
or maybe he just wants someone who will pay the luxury tax and find ways of getting better players in ala Jerry West.. if he wanted Odom or Bynum traded, he wouldn't give them all that credit, especially Odom...ever thought of that?
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LOL, wheres Nik!!?!?!?
Oh you didn't hear? He finally found the shut down option on his computer. Maybe he'll realize that if he turns that lil knob on his door it'll take him to a world outside of the internet.
Says the "Laker fan" who reports bogus BSPN crap about Kobe and the Lakers as fact. "OMG! ESPN SAID KOBE WANTS TO BE TRADED!"...You haven't learned shit yet, have you?
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kobe is dumb, he shouldnt have started beef with shaq
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LOL, wheres Nik!!?!?!?
Oh you didn't hear? He finally found the shut down option on his computer. Maybe he'll realize that if he turns that lil knob on his door it'll take him to a world outside of the internet.
Says the "Laker fan" who reports bogus BSPN crap about Kobe and the Lakers as fact. "OMG! ESPN SAID KOBE WANTS TO BE TRADED!"...You haven't learned shit yet, have you?
Just do us all a favor and kill yourself. This forum was so peaceful without out. It was nice to go a day without hearing you wine and complain about Steve Nash and Dwyane Wade.
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BTW I think now it's clear that he wants some players with trade value to be traded.... he wouldn't push it like this if all he wants is an MLE nigga and some vet min niggas... ya dig? So basically he wants a GM with balls. And maybe he also wants to be the inofficial co-GM. Shit's going to be wild this summer. If nothing big goes down, Lakers should really consider trading his ass, as hard it may sound... because if he opts out and leaves them with nuttin, they gon suck ass for a long ass time.
or maybe he just wants someone who will pay the luxury tax and find ways of getting better players in ala Jerry West.. if he wanted Odom or Bynum traded, he wouldn't give them all that credit, especially Odom...ever thought of that?
Well the Grizzlies hit rock bottom with him.. and didn't even get Oden/Durant... :-X
Of course he gives Odom credit, he's had a terrible year. First his baby died, and he still played through the pain, then his injury, and he still played through that pain as well, now he has to take surgery... you can't ask for a man like that to "step it up" or to be traded.
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LOL, wheres Nik!!?!?!?
Oh you didn't hear? He finally found the shut down option on his computer. Maybe he'll realize that if he turns that lil knob on his door it'll take him to a world outside of the internet.
Says the "Laker fan" who reports bogus BSPN crap about Kobe and the Lakers as fact. "OMG! ESPN SAID KOBE WANTS TO BE TRADED!"...You haven't learned shit yet, have you?
Just do us all a favor and kill yourself. This forum was so peaceful without out. It was nice to go a day without hearing you wine and complain about Steve Nash and Dwyane Wade.
You're the dickhead randomly talkin shit about people in threads. LOL@peaceful ...grow up. :grumpy:
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BTW I think now it's clear that he wants some players with trade value to be traded.... he wouldn't push it like this if all he wants is an MLE nigga and some vet min niggas... ya dig? So basically he wants a GM with balls. And maybe he also wants to be the inofficial co-GM. Shit's going to be wild this summer. If nothing big goes down, Lakers should really consider trading his ass, as hard it may sound... because if he opts out and leaves them with nuttin, they gon suck ass for a long ass time.
or maybe he just wants someone who will pay the luxury tax and find ways of getting better players in ala Jerry West.. if he wanted Odom or Bynum traded, he wouldn't give them all that credit, especially Odom...ever thought of that?
Well the Grizzlies hit rock bottom with him.. and didn't even get Oden/Durant... :-X
Of course he gives Odom credit, he's had a terrible year. First his baby died, and he still played through the pain, then his injury, and he still played through that pain as well, now he has to take surgery... you can't ask for a man like that to "step it up" or to be traded.
Kobe is high on Odom and said he would love to continue playing with him...Odom is a warrior. No way you give up on a player like that. Grizzlies never paid the luxury tax...PeACe