Lakers ensure more rings to come, dream team in place

[Andrew]

Fair call I suppose, you can't blame him for signing a big extension that was offered to him. It arguably says more about management outbidding themselves and not seeing if he'd be open to a smaller deal so that they have more cap flexibility, but bottom line it does put them in a tougher position.

[NovU]

You just gotta love the way media's trolling Kobe and the Lakers when they exactly know he deserves every single cent of 49 millions. Kobe's possibly more revenue than Wade, Pierce, and Dirk combined even at this point in his career. Why would any team NOT want to pay him big bucks for the most decorated/storied player since MJ.

This was a good move imo, and Kupchap said CBA's not going to stop him from competing at the highest level, so perhaps this is as good as it gets if they wanted to keep Kobe content and move forward.

Also makes me think Kobe will still impact the league even after his retirement. He's made so much money, I can imagine him buying Pelicans and competing against MJ and Shaq.

[Andrew]

Kupchap said CBA's not going to stop him from competing at the highest level

I can't see how it won't be a hurdle in some way, unless they expect some major stars in their prime to take massive paycuts to play second fiddle to Kobe in the final years of his career.

[NovU]

Agreed. I wonder what his plan is too. It would have been much more believable if Kobe went Dirk way (tho we dunno how much hez gonna settle for).

But the Lakers are still one of the most profitable franchise based in biggest market so maybe as far as money is concerned they are perhaps still in good hands. They were willing to max+max pay Howard then keep Kobe as well after all.

[SoF'nAwesome]

Laker$.

But Kobe deserves it, true legend. However, 5th is the final ring.

[Sauru]

As I said in the Lakers thread, I guess he's content to chase the all-time scoring record, as it doesn't seem like they'll be in a position to make themselves a strong contender in the West. Still, he's earned the big bucks with the career he's had and it's only right that he retires a Laker.

of course kobe is gonna go for the record. whats gonna be really interesting is when he passes jordan. just another thing kobe fans will use in a failed argument that he is better than jordan was

[benji]

In that one interview the interviewer mentioned how many points he has to go and he acted like he didn't know how close he is.

[SoF'nAwesome]

Like in the 2012 All-Star match. Of course no one is gonna be like "ya, I'm going for that". But like in that match, you can see that he is chasing it.

[Andrew]

of course kobe is gonna go for the record. whats gonna be really interesting is when he passes jordan. just another thing kobe fans will use in a failed argument that he is better than jordan was

Naturally. And to be fair, it will be a feather in his cap and a fine achievement, though I imagine many will conveniently ignore the fact that he'll have played close to 200 more games than MJ did.

[Sauru]

of course kobe is gonna go for the record. whats gonna be really interesting is when he passes jordan. just another thing kobe fans will use in a failed argument that he is better than jordan was

Naturally. And to be fair, it will be a feather in his cap and a fine achievement, though I imagine many will conveniently ignore the fact that he'll have played close to 200 more games than MJ did.

damn right they will. everytime someone tells me kobe scores more than jordan i will just reply with 30.1. had jordan not taken those breaks he ends as the number 1 scorer in history easily

[NovU]

How many more shots did it take for Kobe to reach MJ milestone? How many more minutes, games, and seasons? All irrelevant. At the end of the day, 81 points baby.

Admit it Sauru, MJ might be the GOAT but you give that GOAT a 3point range, you have Kobe. Your life becomes much easier accepting this simple fact.

[Andrew]

damn right they will. everytime someone tells me kobe scores more than jordan i will just reply with 30.1. had jordan not taken those breaks he ends as the number 1 scorer in history easily

As it stands, he'd be just falling short with Kobe's total career games, at 37, 294. With Kareem's 1560 games at that average, he'd have had 46,956 points. That's his average after his Wizards seasons too, which dropped his career scoring average. With the 31.5 ppg average he ended his Bulls career with in 1998, you'd have totals of 39,029 and 49,140.

it's all what-if stuff of course and you could obviously do the same for Wilt, who also played significantly fewer games than other members of the 30,000 club. Nevertheless, career totals can be a little misleading when comparing the greats. Was Karl Malone a better scorer than Wilt Chamberlain? Was John Havlicek better than Larry Bird? The totals say yes, averages and other statistics suggest otherwise.

[SoF'nAwesome]

Greatest scorer & greatest player, two different debates, right?

[Andrew]

Of course, though even if we're simply talking about the superior scorer, career totals or a single performance alone do not tell the whole story. I wouldn't say that Karl Malone was better scorer than Wilt Chamberlain because he has more career points, or that David Thompson is a better scorer than Kareem Abdul-Jabbar because he scored over 70 points in a single game while Kareem did not.

[Valor]

as it doesn't seem like they'll be in a position to make themselves a strong contender in the West.

Maybe they could have if Kobe had followed Tim Duncan's lead and accepted less money for the good of his team.

1. He DID accept less money
2. There was no negotiations

[Andrew]

I'm guessing Phil meant less than what he ultimately signed on for. But yeah, the Lakers put an attractive offer in front of him and he signed it, as anyone with any financial sense would. It's on the organisation for not even seeing if he'd consider a larger paycut to facilitate some other moves.

[Bruce]

I am not a fan of the big contract either. But as it stands, according to Kobe's comments after the signing that it was "obviously for things (accomplished) in the past". It seems Jim Buss & co does not want to "disrespect" Kobe with a low ball offer. Dragging the contract negotiations on to the off-season will not help free agent signings as well because of the cap hold. Where the Lakers can not enjoy all that cap space unless the Lakers decide to resign Kobe or release him. So far I think Jim Buss' decisions are going to sink the Lakers, but of course time will ultimately be the judge of that.

[Patr1ck]

No worries. Nice fat trade coming up this or next season to give Kobe another set of great teammates on route to a 'ship.

[Valor]

I'm guessing Phil meant less than what he ultimately signed on for. But yeah, the Lakers put an attractive offer in front of him and he signed it, as anyone with any financial sense would. It's on the organisation for not even seeing if he'd consider a larger paycut to facilitate some other moves.

That's the thing, nobody would go out of their way and say "hey that's too much money, I want a bigger paycut", so instead of all the blame being pointed at Kobe Bryant, who is still the best SG in the league by far and hasn't given any indications of a decline in production last season, how about everybody just look at the level of ineptitude being on display by Jim Buss?

[Jackal]

Kobe Bryant, who is still the best SG in the league by far and hasn't given any indications of a decline in production last season

Dwane Wade lols at you

[Andrew]

That's the thing, nobody would go out of their way and say "hey that's too much money, I want a bigger paycut", so instead of all the blame being pointed at Kobe Bryant, who is still the best SG in the league by far and hasn't given any indications of a decline in production last season, how about everybody just look at the level of ineptitude being on display by Jim Buss?

I guess when it comes down to it, it's easier to criticise the player and call them selfish. At the same time though, fans look at other players around the league that took less money in the name of allowing their teams to remain competitive, without putting them in a tough financial situation. Knowing Kobe's thirst for winning, people probably expected him to do the same.

[SoF'nAwesome]

It isn't "by far" anymore, Harden changed that last season.

[Valor]

It isn't "by far" anymore, Harden changed that last season.

By doing what? Jacking up shots at a sub 40% clip, flopping his way to the line, turning the ball over and playing no defense?

That's the thing, nobody would go out of their way and say "hey that's too much money, I want a bigger paycut", so instead of all the blame being pointed at Kobe Bryant, who is still the best SG in the league by far and hasn't given any indications of a decline in production last season, how about everybody just look at the level of ineptitude being on display by Jim Buss?

I guess when it comes down to it, it's easier to criticise the player and call them selfish. At the same time though, fans look at other players around the league that took less money in the name of allowing their teams to remain competitive, without putting them in a tough financial situation. Knowing Kobe's thirst for winning, people probably expected him to do the same.

Well that's the thing, it's not like he didn't take less money, he just took the one and only deal the Lakers gave him. What was he to do? Tell them to give him the minimum? (Which I've seen a lot of people suggesting...)

Kobe Bryant, who is still the best SG in the league by far and hasn't given any indications of a decline in production last season

Dwane Wade lols at you

Tell me that when Dwyane Wade can play at least 80 games a season first and produce as much as Kobe does.

[Jackal]

Tell me that when Dwyane Wade can play at least 80 games a season first and produce as much as Kobe does.

Look friend you first tell me Drose can play some games without blowing his knee then we talk about Dwane okay?? He is the best SG and more efficience and you are Chicago fan so you never will admit he is best SG if you look at the numbers GOSH some people on this place

[NovU]

It isn't "by far" anymore, Harden changed that last season.

By doing what? Jacking up shots at a sub 40% clip, flopping his way to the line, turning the ball over and playing no defense?

Getting to the line always has been James Harden's strength, he loves to drive and draw contact, flopping or not, it's not surprising why he gets the calls. And he wasn't the one who was on the team that were desperate to make the playoffs with referees' help from mid season(Remember whose FTA took a big hike suddenly, not Harden's, someone else became untouchable, you look at him, they called fouls). And he shot better TS% than Kobe. Also note that his team won games with offense, now guess who was the biggest contributor in that aspect for offensive Juggernaut Rockets. Yet Harden's defensively defected team was a better defensive team than Kobe's Lakers.

Here's the thing. Harden's team overachieved vastly but none of it is due to Harden's excellency?? (Compare that to The Lakers underachieving greatly, but it's never Kobe's fault because he scored 30ppg, omg?!). Remember before Harden trade, nobody took the Rockets as a playoffs team, with Lin and Asik core, lol. And we still have this stupid talk on Harden's ability in W column.

Kobe Bryant, who is still the best SG in the league by far and hasn't given any indications of a decline in production last season

LoL. Not in my world, and perhaps not in a lot of people's world in this forum. We've went through this topic thoroughly during last season anyways.

Well that's the thing, it's not like he didn't take less money, he just took the one and only deal the Lakers gave him. What was he to do? Tell them to give him the minimum? (Which I've seen a lot of people suggesting...)

It may not be entirely his fault but it is HIS enormous contract's fault. He's getting paid the most in the league by vast margin once again while he's hardly a top 20 player. It's because of that people were suggesting he could have taken less. All of us know this is more business deal than basketball deal which you seem to be claiming it's actually close to a basketball deal because Kobe's still the best player at his position that wins you tons of games.