It's May 01, 2024, 09:20:40 AM
It's a Small World After AllPosted by Gilbert Arenas on July 2 2007, 9:19 p.m. ETThoughts on KobeDuring vaction, mostly I just relaxed. I read a little bit, you know, hung out by the beach and then I came back to the states and I was like, “Damn, everyone’s getting traded!” I was on a trade rumor, a trade of me for Kobe and I was like, “Woah, what’s going on? I’m being traded?!”I guess he really wants out of L.A., huh? Are the L.A. fans happy about this? It’s basically “he said, she said,” and you’re going to leave a city that embraced you because of “he said, she said”? I mean, I just think it’s a bunch of hocus pocus.I mean, Shaq leaves, Phil Jackson leaves and now you want out? You know, I grew up an L.A. fan and as a fan of L.A. I don’t know what to feel like. I’m like, “Now wait a minute, you want to leave now?” I’m thinking as a fan, not a player. Wait a minute, I bought the 24 collection, you know? He signed 24 jerseys: 24 white, 24 purple, 24 yellow. I got all three colors. I’m a fan! I came back and it’s like, “Damn, he wants to leave no matter what?”Any team he goes to, they’re going to have to get rid of a whole team to accommodate him. So he’s going to be most likely be in a worse situation than he was before. That’s how I look at it.
^^^^ it's not being negative, it's accepting the current truth ...
Although he didn't rescind his trade request, Kobe Bryant softened his stance somewhat Thursday night, saying he had apologized to Los Angeles Lakers general manager Mitch Kupchak in person for the way he handled his upset feelings five weeks ago."I just felt like as a man, it was important for me to tell him, `I'm sorry it came out that way,"' Bryant said at a lightly attended news conference at Loyola Marymount, where he spoke mainly about his camp for youngsters at the school this week.Bryant said that while he could have called Kupchak, it was important he speak with him face-to-face."I was frustrated, I was venting," Bryant said.When asked whether he still wanted out, Bryant replied: "I haven't thought about that in a long, long time. I've kind of stepped away from that. I've concentrated on Team USA. What I say is what I say. We'll just have to see where it goes."The U.S. national team begins practice July 20 in Las Vegas.Bryant, the NBA's leading scorer the past two seasons, complained about a lack of talent around him at season's end, and said May 30 he wanted to be traded, adding nothing could change his mind.Despite that request, the Lakers have made clear that trading Bryant isn't in their plans. Bryant is owed $88.6 million over the next four seasons, but could terminate his contract in two years.The Lakers haven't won a playoff series since reaching the NBA finals in 2004 for the fourth time in five years. With Bryant and Shaquille O'Neal leading the way, they won three straight championships from 2000-02.O'Neal was traded to Miami in July 2004, a day before Bryant signed a seven-year, $136.4 million contract to remain with the Lakers, who haven't won a playoff series since O'Neal left.Bryant said he hasn't spoken with Derek Fisher since Monday, when Fisher was released by the Utah Jazz so he can concentrate on finding the best care for his 11-month-old daughter, who has cancer in her left eye.Fisher said he wants to live in one of the six or seven cities being considered for Tatum's care. Bryant and Fisher were teammates and, from all indications, good friends while playing with the Lakers from 1996-2004 -- the first eight seasons of their NBA careers.Kupchak didn't rule out the possibility of a return to the Lakers for Fisher, who signed with Golden State as a free agent after the 2003-04 season and was later traded to Utah.Bryant said 450 kids aged 8-to-18 attended his camp.
Derek Fisher, who was released by the Utah Jazz to allow him to take care of his ill daughter, would love to play for the New York Knicks. His daughter has been receiving treatments for retinoblastoma in New York.His agent, Mark Bartelstein, spoke to Knicks assistant general manager Glen Grunwald Tuesday about the possibility, which is probably a bit remote.Bartelstein said his client plans on playing next season, and a return to the Los Angeles Lakers, where he could be a starter, is probably a stronger possibility.
Please don't let Mitch/Jim/Jerry fuck this one up. Derek Fisher is EXACTLY what we need to fix the PG problem we've had since he left.
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