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LakersNewEra
Star Player
Joined: 16 Apr 2014
Posts: 1526
Location: Vancouver BC
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 Posted: Sat Feb 28, 2015 11:19 pm Post subject: Remember when Kobe requested to be traded? |
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| Quote: | Yeah, I would like to be traded. And as tough as it is to say that, as tough as it is to come to that conclusion, there's no other -- there's no other -- there's no other alternative, you know. They obviously want to move in a different direction in terms of rebuilding. I wish they would have told me that prior to me re-signing with the team. They obviously want to move in a different direction.
KB: You got to be up front about that, man. Three years ago when I was re-signing, they should have told me that they wanted to rebuild. Would have affected my decision. Don't tell me one thing and do another.
Not really, man. At this point I'll go play on Pluto right now. |
Wow this brings back memories. He was absolutely right though. As upset as I am about the FO now, nothing will come close to how upset I was back then. They had Kobe Bryant in his absolute prime and they thought rebuilding was the way to go lol.
Bynum was thought to be even more untouchable than Kobe and 2007 plan was in effect
Jim apparently wanted LeBron more than anything. It was so frustrating. Teams we had were so awful, freaking Smush starting
I guess hiring Phil changed everything. FO has a good run with Phil being in their ear constantly. Before Phil and after Phil...yeah...no need to comment. |
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Lakers95
Franchise Player
Joined: 19 Dec 2011
Posts: 20880
Location: Southern California
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| Posted: Sat Feb 28, 2015 11:21 pm Post subject: |
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Imagine if we went through with that awful Chicago trade. They wouldn't even include a role player like Deng in it.
Or that Pistons trade. Tayshaun Prince and Rip Hamilton!?  |
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venturalakersfan
Retired Number
Joined: 14 Apr 2001
Posts: 144462
Location: The Gold Coast
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| Posted: Sat Feb 28, 2015 11:22 pm Post subject: |
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Rebuilding was the way to go. Dr Buss called his bluff and Kobe backtracked. It worked out great for us Laker fans.
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RIP mom. 11-21-1933 to 6-14-2023. |
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LakersNewEra
Star Player
Joined: 16 Apr 2014
Posts: 1526
Location: Vancouver BC
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| Posted: Sat Feb 28, 2015 11:28 pm Post subject: |
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It was hiring Phil that calmed Kobe down. When they hired Phil, he was more confident that the Lakers were about winning. And they were.
Ironically, Kobe and Phil were still thought to be on very bad terms at the time. But Kobe knew Phil would not tolerate any BS from the FO and Im sure he saw Phil as an ally.. After all, they both had a common goal. Win. Just win. Worked out fine. |
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LakersNewEra
Star Player
Joined: 16 Apr 2014
Posts: 1526
Location: Vancouver BC
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| Posted: Sat Feb 28, 2015 11:34 pm Post subject: |
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| Lakers95 wrote: | Imagine if we went through with that awful Chicago trade. They wouldn't even include a role player like Deng in it.
Or that Pistons trade. Tayshaun Prince and Rip Hamilton!? |
The only reason why that Pistons trade didnt go through was because Kobe vetoed it.
Man, what an awful trade that would've been  |
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lakeshowtacular
Starting Rotation
Joined: 22 Jul 2010
Posts: 704
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| Posted: Sat Feb 28, 2015 11:59 pm Post subject: |
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I remember calling in to a radio talk show and suggested we ask for Deng and Hinrich, and the host said no way we would get those 2 for Kobe, 1 or the other and picks at best. I lol'd and they hung up on me. The only thing that lessens my feeling of stupidity for trying to trade Ocho for Deng and Hinrich, is that the idiots on the radio thought asking for Kirk (bleeping) Hinrich was too much for Kobe. Trying times indeed for the Laker faithful.
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Gwyn
Star Player
Joined: 11 Oct 2012
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akk7
Star Player
Joined: 15 Oct 2005
Posts: 3013
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| Posted: Sun Mar 01, 2015 12:21 am Post subject: |
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| LakersNewEra wrote: | It was hiring Phil that calmed Kobe down. When they hired Phil, he was more confident that the Lakers were about winning. And they were.
Ironically, Kobe and Phil were still thought to be on very bad terms at the time. But Kobe knew Phil would not tolerate any BS from the FO and Im sure he saw Phil as an ally.. After all, they both had a common goal. Win. Just win. Worked out fine. |
Phil was coaching the team when he demanded the trade. He came back, coached Kobe for 2 seasons and then Kobe demanded the trade.
What calmed Kobe down was the early success of the Lakers in 07 due to the emergence of Andrew Bynum, who has a bad rep now as a slacker, but at that time I remember him as an extremely hard worker and then ultimately Pau Gasol. Phil obviously had something to do with all of this clicking, but it wasn't Phil who calmed him down.
Tangent, but Bynum now has the rep of a slacker/lazy individual, but Bynum in his early stages was a guy who was known to work hard, lost a lot of weight, got extremely good, and even played in pain for the Lakers in 2010. |
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Steve007
Franchise Player
Joined: 21 Jul 2006
Posts: 13224
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| Posted: Sun Mar 01, 2015 3:10 am Post subject: |
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| akk7 wrote: | | LakersNewEra wrote: | It was hiring Phil that calmed Kobe down. When they hired Phil, he was more confident that the Lakers were about winning. And they were.
Ironically, Kobe and Phil were still thought to be on very bad terms at the time. But Kobe knew Phil would not tolerate any BS from the FO and Im sure he saw Phil as an ally.. After all, they both had a common goal. Win. Just win. Worked out fine. |
Phil was coaching the team when he demanded the trade. He came back, coached Kobe for 2 seasons and then Kobe demanded the trade.
What calmed Kobe down was the early success of the Lakers in 07 due to the emergence of Andrew Bynum, who has a bad rep now as a slacker, but at that time I remember him as an extremely hard worker and then ultimately Pau Gasol. Phil obviously had something to do with all of this clicking, but it wasn't Phil who calmed him down.
Tangent, but Bynum now has the rep of a slacker/lazy individual, but Bynum in his early stages was a guy who was known to work hard, lost a lot of weight, got extremely good, and even played in pain for the Lakers in 2010. |
Derek Fisher was added to the team and replaced Smush Parker. That helped. And of course Bynum emerged. Another thing that helped was the improved play of the bench (there was a trade for Ariza, Sasha was really hot that year and had the only decent year of his career, Farmar improved in his second year). Then when Bynum got hurt, the Gasol trade happened.
Agreed that Phil was there for a couple of years before the trade demands. I don't know why people are getting the idea that Phil was hired that summer. He wasn't. |
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kobeandgary
Star Player
Joined: 18 Apr 2004
Posts: 6339
Location: Virginia
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| Posted: Sun Mar 01, 2015 4:06 am Post subject: |
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| venturalakersfan wrote: | | Rebuilding was the way to go. Dr Buss called his bluff and Kobe backtracked. It worked out great for us Laker fans. |
don't really remember kobe bluffing or backtracking or Dr. Buss calling it, i remember Kobe being lied to by the front office and getting fed up with it, they finally owned up to there word and brought in talent and we of course went on to win two more rings. |
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Potato-Mania
Star Player
Joined: 07 Nov 2012
Posts: 1244
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| Posted: Sun Mar 01, 2015 4:39 am Post subject: |
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Being patient proved to be the right thing to do. Lakers fans wanted anyone and everyone under a rock just for the sake of pleasing Kobe. They wanted to give up key pieces for Jermaine O'neal, Jason Kidd, and give up everything for KG.
Being patient may have wasted two years of Kobe but it paid off in the long run. |
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the association
Star Player
Joined: 03 Feb 2015
Posts: 1982
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| Posted: Sun Mar 01, 2015 7:59 am Post subject: |
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| kobeandgary wrote: | | venturalakersfan wrote: | | Rebuilding was the way to go. Dr Buss called his bluff and Kobe backtracked. It worked out great for us Laker fans. |
don't really remember kobe bluffing or backtracking or Dr. Buss calling it, i remember Kobe being lied to by the front office and getting fed up with it, they finally owned up to there word and brought in talent and we of course went on to win two more rings. |
How exactly was Kobe "lied to" by the FO? I'll most definitely look forward to your response, but I also have to establish from jump street that this statement seems to me like some really bizarre, mind-boggling revisionist nonsense. And infuriating a bit, too, considering the almost $17MM PER YEAR, on average, that Kobe has enjoyed from salary alone over the course of his 20 years of contract play. Really ...
What everyone outside the inner circle knows are the following details:
1. Phil wasn't offered a new contract, a fact that apparently satisfied both Phil and Kobe, as both had independently expressed a sincere disinterest in continuing their coach - player relationship at that time (as everyone learned through verified sources over time);
2. Preliminary contract negotiations were discontinued and O'Neal was ultimately traded to Miami, a fact that satisfied Kobe's rather unambiguous interests in moving out from whatever shadows he perceived himself to be in;
and
3. Kobe signed an almost $140MM contract the next day, yet another fact.
Therefore, this "lying" narrative is a real bone of contention for me (and I assume others) since it accomplishes very little other than to unjustly tarnish the reputation of Dr. Buss and the organization. If your "source materials" are self-serving statements made many years later by Kobe or anyone else, please save them as they are really meaningless.
I usually chalk it up to intellectual dishonesty or perhaps pathology of some kind when I see "Chucky Atkins, Smush Parker and Kwame Brown, blah blah blah" tossed around to excuse the disaster that we all had to suffer through from 2004 - 2007 (because I rarely seem to see the names Lamar Odom or Caron Butler when someone is bemoaning with excuses those horrific 2004 - 2007 seasons). And yeah, this particular brand of excuse peddling has become something of a pathetic meme over the years.
But lying to the guy? Is that how far we're willing to go now? He made his bed; when the time came to sleep in it (i.e., lead the team as "the man"), he found that he wasn't able to sleep comfortably (i.e., guide the team to a competitive level as the Lakers organization had grown accustomed to over the previous 5 - 8 years). Fortunately, the organization was able to position itself for success once again a few years later. But those three + preceding years? Not good ...
So where was the lying that you refer to? You don't recall the VERY public trade demands, and you don't recall the (now VERY verified) trade rumors, but you recall something that could only even be possible if you were Kobe, Rob Pelinka, Mitch or the late, great Dr. Buss and his children? |
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Treble Clef
Franchise Player
Joined: 20 Nov 2012
Posts: 23903
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| Posted: Sun Mar 01, 2015 8:14 am Post subject: |
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| Steve007 wrote: | | akk7 wrote: | | LakersNewEra wrote: | It was hiring Phil that calmed Kobe down. When they hired Phil, he was more confident that the Lakers were about winning. And they were.
Ironically, Kobe and Phil were still thought to be on very bad terms at the time. But Kobe knew Phil would not tolerate any BS from the FO and Im sure he saw Phil as an ally.. After all, they both had a common goal. Win. Just win. Worked out fine. |
Phil was coaching the team when he demanded the trade. He came back, coached Kobe for 2 seasons and then Kobe demanded the trade.
What calmed Kobe down was the early success of the Lakers in 07 due to the emergence of Andrew Bynum, who has a bad rep now as a slacker, but at that time I remember him as an extremely hard worker and then ultimately Pau Gasol. Phil obviously had something to do with all of this clicking, but it wasn't Phil who calmed him down.
Tangent, but Bynum now has the rep of a slacker/lazy individual, but Bynum in his early stages was a guy who was known to work hard, lost a lot of weight, got extremely good, and even played in pain for the Lakers in 2010. |
Derek Fisher was added to the team and replaced Smush Parker. That helped. And of course Bynum emerged. Another thing that helped was the improved play of the bench (there was a trade for Ariza, Sasha was really hot that year and had the only decent year of his career, Farmar improved in his second year). Then when Bynum got hurt, the Gasol trade happened.
Agreed that Phil was there for a couple of years before the trade demands. I don't know why people are getting the idea that Phil was hired that summer. He wasn't. |
With all of the success Phil has had, a lot of people choose to ignore/deny the struggles he has faced. |
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Lakers2001
Starting Rotation
Joined: 11 Dec 2012
Posts: 745
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| Posted: Mon Mar 02, 2015 2:37 am Post subject: |
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| Honestly I think Kobe was bluffin the whole time. Those dark years were a lot diffrenent than this time. Hell, the 90's teams were a lot better than now. |
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kobeandgary
Star Player
Joined: 18 Apr 2004
Posts: 6339
Location: Virginia
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| Posted: Mon Mar 02, 2015 3:35 am Post subject: |
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| the association wrote: | | kobeandgary wrote: | | venturalakersfan wrote: | | Rebuilding was the way to go. Dr Buss called his bluff and Kobe backtracked. It worked out great for us Laker fans. |
don't really remember kobe bluffing or backtracking or Dr. Buss calling it, i remember Kobe being lied to by the front office and getting fed up with it, they finally owned up to there word and brought in talent and we of course went on to win two more rings. |
How exactly was Kobe "lied to" by the FO? I'll most definitely look forward to your response, but I also have to establish from jump street that this statement seems to me like some really bizarre, mind-boggling revisionist nonsense. And infuriating a bit, too, considering the almost $17MM PER YEAR, on average, that Kobe has enjoyed from salary alone over the course of his 20 years of contract play. Really ...
What everyone outside the inner circle knows are the following details:
1. Phil wasn't offered a new contract, a fact that apparently satisfied both Phil and Kobe, as both had independently expressed a sincere disinterest in continuing their coach - player relationship at that time (as everyone learned through verified sources over time);
2. Preliminary contract negotiations were discontinued and O'Neal was ultimately traded to Miami, a fact that satisfied Kobe's rather unambiguous interests in moving out from whatever shadows he perceived himself to be in;
and
3. Kobe signed an almost $140MM contract the next day, yet another fact.
Therefore, this "lying" narrative is a real bone of contention for me (and I assume others) since it accomplishes very little other than to unjustly tarnish the reputation of Dr. Buss and the organization. If your "source materials" are self-serving statements made many years later by Kobe or anyone else, please save them as they are really meaningless.
I usually chalk it up to intellectual dishonesty or perhaps pathology of some kind when I see "Chucky Atkins, Smush Parker and Kwame Brown, blah blah blah" tossed around to excuse the disaster that we all had to suffer through from 2004 - 2007 (because I rarely seem to see the names Lamar Odom or Caron Butler when someone is bemoaning with excuses those horrific 2004 - 2007 seasons). And yeah, this particular brand of excuse peddling has become something of a pathetic meme over the years.
But lying to the guy? Is that how far we're willing to go now? He made his bed; when the time came to sleep in it (i.e., lead the team as "the man"), he found that he wasn't able to sleep comfortably (i.e., guide the team to a competitive level as the Lakers organization had grown accustomed to over the previous 5 - 8 years). Fortunately, the organization was able to position itself for success once again a few years later. But those three + preceding years? Not good ...
So where was the lying that you refer to? You don't recall the VERY public trade demands, and you don't recall the (now VERY verified) trade rumors, but you recall something that could only even be possible if you were Kobe, Rob Pelinka, Mitch or the late, great Dr. Buss and his children? |
of course i remember Kobe demanding a trade, and yes he was lied to by the front office. They made certain promises to him that were not kept, if you don't remember that then that's cool. |
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J.C. Smith
Franchise Player
Joined: 23 Jun 2005
Posts: 12670
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| Posted: Mon Mar 02, 2015 5:56 am Post subject: Re: Remember when Kobe requested to be traded? |
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The front office made the right decisions there. That team was making good progress. They nearly upset the Suns in the first round one year, then started the next season 26-12 before injuries really hurt them and they wound up collapsing down the stretch. But the reality is they then started the next season on fire with basically the exact same team again, the only addition was the Ariza trade early in the year. And then of course they landed Gasol with some of the assets they had been accruing and went to three straight titles.
Kobe just lost patience at that point. He saw Lebron having an easy run through the East and a young Bulls team and concern over his legacy had him wanting to jump ship. But the moves that infuriated him were all moves that would have crippled the Lakers. He was upset about not trading for Jermaine O'Neal or Jason Kidd right before they joined the senior league. If the Lakers did the moves that would have appeased to him in the short term the team would have never won titles, and he would have demanded a trade a year or two later for the same legacy reasons. That was a big deal for him because if he never won another title people would say he never won a title as the primary option or that he never won a title without Shaq.
Mitch was building then the same way he is building now. Slow and steady. Fans got frustrated because there were no big moves being made. He seemed hesitant to pull the trigger. But the moves he passed on, all wound up being the right decision. The only really bad move he made during that period of time was the Kwame trade, which was driven by Phil and which was considered a home run swing. They knew the risk but felt he was worth the gamble. Of course Butler would go on to be an all-star, but Kwame did help them net Gasol. And I see similar things happening now. Two guys fans are angry that the Lakers didn't chase this summer, Thomas and Stephenson have both been problems in the locker room. Nobody wants Stephenson and the Suns traded Thomas even knowing they were trading Dragic. While I certainly wish they would have gotten something for Gasol, (or Hill this year) if teams aren't giving fair offers, I can understand the notion of not giving away an asset for free. It hurts his ability to make favorable deals in the future if teams think they can run over him. |
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ziggyncali
Rookie
Joined: 14 Nov 2014
Posts: 20
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| Posted: Mon Mar 02, 2015 6:10 am Post subject: |
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| Everyone is unhappy at some point with their team, Kobe stayed an will be one of the rare great to stay with one team. I can only think of Kobe an Duncan in this current generation to pull it off, Paul Pierce was close, I think D Wade has a shot but I can see him going to play with Lebron his last year or two. |
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DocK36
Franchise Player
Joined: 19 Apr 2001
Posts: 19454
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| Posted: Mon Mar 02, 2015 6:27 am Post subject: |
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| kobeandgary wrote: | | the association wrote: | | kobeandgary wrote: | | venturalakersfan wrote: | | Rebuilding was the way to go. Dr Buss called his bluff and Kobe backtracked. It worked out great for us Laker fans. |
don't really remember kobe bluffing or backtracking or Dr. Buss calling it, i remember Kobe being lied to by the front office and getting fed up with it, they finally owned up to there word and brought in talent and we of course went on to win two more rings. |
How exactly was Kobe "lied to" by the FO? I'll most definitely look forward to your response, but I also have to establish from jump street that this statement seems to me like some really bizarre, mind-boggling revisionist nonsense. And infuriating a bit, too, considering the almost $17MM PER YEAR, on average, that Kobe has enjoyed from salary alone over the course of his 20 years of contract play. Really ...
What everyone outside the inner circle knows are the following details:
1. Phil wasn't offered a new contract, a fact that apparently satisfied both Phil and Kobe, as both had independently expressed a sincere disinterest in continuing their coach - player relationship at that time (as everyone learned through verified sources over time);
2. Preliminary contract negotiations were discontinued and O'Neal was ultimately traded to Miami, a fact that satisfied Kobe's rather unambiguous interests in moving out from whatever shadows he perceived himself to be in;
and
3. Kobe signed an almost $140MM contract the next day, yet another fact.
Therefore, this "lying" narrative is a real bone of contention for me (and I assume others) since it accomplishes very little other than to unjustly tarnish the reputation of Dr. Buss and the organization. If your "source materials" are self-serving statements made many years later by Kobe or anyone else, please save them as they are really meaningless.
I usually chalk it up to intellectual dishonesty or perhaps pathology of some kind when I see "Chucky Atkins, Smush Parker and Kwame Brown, blah blah blah" tossed around to excuse the disaster that we all had to suffer through from 2004 - 2007 (because I rarely seem to see the names Lamar Odom or Caron Butler when someone is bemoaning with excuses those horrific 2004 - 2007 seasons). And yeah, this particular brand of excuse peddling has become something of a pathetic meme over the years.
But lying to the guy? Is that how far we're willing to go now? He made his bed; when the time came to sleep in it (i.e., lead the team as "the man"), he found that he wasn't able to sleep comfortably (i.e., guide the team to a competitive level as the Lakers organization had grown accustomed to over the previous 5 - 8 years). Fortunately, the organization was able to position itself for success once again a few years later. But those three + preceding years? Not good ...
So where was the lying that you refer to? You don't recall the VERY public trade demands, and you don't recall the (now VERY verified) trade rumors, but you recall something that could only even be possible if you were Kobe, Rob Pelinka, Mitch or the late, great Dr. Buss and his children? |
of course i remember Kobe demanding a trade, and yes he was lied to by the front office. They made certain promises to him that were not kept, if you don't remember that then that's cool. |
No he was not lied to, he got everything he wanted, it takes time to rebuild a team . What you forgot was Kobe's reputation really got trashed at the time, fresh off Colorado accusation, Shaq bad mouthing him every chance he can, Phil calling him uncoachable, Ray Allen chimed in, ESPN having a field day. Not too many guys are going to take less money to come, so the only way to rebuild is to acquire assets like young players through the draft and expiring contracts and look out for trade opportunities when there is a good player in a small market who is nearing free agency.
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Ringo "You retired too?"
Doc "Not me, I'm in my prime." |
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the association
Star Player
Joined: 03 Feb 2015
Posts: 1982
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| Posted: Mon Mar 02, 2015 6:50 am Post subject: |
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| kobeandgary wrote: | | the association wrote: | | kobeandgary wrote: | | venturalakersfan wrote: | | Rebuilding was the way to go. Dr Buss called his bluff and Kobe backtracked. It worked out great for us Laker fans. |
don't really remember kobe bluffing or backtracking or Dr. Buss calling it, i remember Kobe being lied to by the front office and getting fed up with it, they finally owned up to there word and brought in talent and we of course went on to win two more rings. |
How exactly was Kobe "lied to" by the FO? I'll most definitely look forward to your response, but I also have to establish from jump street that this statement seems to me like some really bizarre, mind-boggling revisionist nonsense. And infuriating a bit, too, considering the almost $17MM PER YEAR, on average, that Kobe has enjoyed from salary alone over the course of his 20 years of contract play. Really ...
What everyone outside the inner circle knows are the following details:
1. Phil wasn't offered a new contract, a fact that apparently satisfied both Phil and Kobe, as both had independently expressed a sincere disinterest in continuing their coach - player relationship at that time (as everyone learned through verified sources over time);
2. Preliminary contract negotiations were discontinued and O'Neal was ultimately traded to Miami, a fact that satisfied Kobe's rather unambiguous interests in moving out from whatever shadows he perceived himself to be in;
and
3. Kobe signed an almost $140MM contract the next day, yet another fact.
Therefore, this "lying" narrative is a real bone of contention for me (and I assume others) since it accomplishes very little other than to unjustly tarnish the reputation of Dr. Buss and the organization. If your "source materials" are self-serving statements made many years later by Kobe or anyone else, please save them as they are really meaningless.
I usually chalk it up to intellectual dishonesty or perhaps pathology of some kind when I see "Chucky Atkins, Smush Parker and Kwame Brown, blah blah blah" tossed around to excuse the disaster that we all had to suffer through from 2004 - 2007 (because I rarely seem to see the names Lamar Odom or Caron Butler when someone is bemoaning with excuses those horrific 2004 - 2007 seasons). And yeah, this particular brand of excuse peddling has become something of a pathetic meme over the years.
But lying to the guy? Is that how far we're willing to go now? He made his bed; when the time came to sleep in it (i.e., lead the team as "the man"), he found that he wasn't able to sleep comfortably (i.e., guide the team to a competitive level as the Lakers organization had grown accustomed to over the previous 5 - 8 years). Fortunately, the organization was able to position itself for success once again a few years later. But those three + preceding years? Not good ...
So where was the lying that you refer to? You don't recall the VERY public trade demands, and you don't recall the (now VERY verified) trade rumors, but you recall something that could only even be possible if you were Kobe, Rob Pelinka, Mitch or the late, great Dr. Buss and his children? |
of course i remember Kobe demanding a trade, and yes he was lied to by the front office. They made certain promises to him that were not kept, if you don't remember that then that's cool. |
I searched around briefly this AM and the only public records that exist to suggest that Kobe was lied to by the organization are unsubstantiated (and self-serving) accusations made by Kobe himself when he had his unseemly meltdown in 2007 ... his claims that ownership misled him to believe that it was prepared to do everything possible to win right away when they re-signed him in Summer 2004 AND that this was not their intent is ironic since Kobe apparently is the one who wasn't ready to execute against that plan ...
If anything, Kobe is the party to those negotiations who failed to deliver as promised ... Dr. Buss and his family have been unfathomably indulgent with Kobe over the years. But some feel perfectly justified in sullying professional reputations anyway with throwaway revisionist assertions that have no basis in fact ... I guess that makes failure seem a little more palatable for some fans ... |
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Aeneas Hunter
Retired Number
Joined: 12 Jul 2005
Posts: 31763
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| Posted: Mon Mar 02, 2015 6:58 am Post subject: |
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| akk7 wrote: | | LakersNewEra wrote: | It was hiring Phil that calmed Kobe down. When they hired Phil, he was more confident that the Lakers were about winning. And they were.
Ironically, Kobe and Phil were still thought to be on very bad terms at the time. But Kobe knew Phil would not tolerate any BS from the FO and Im sure he saw Phil as an ally.. After all, they both had a common goal. Win. Just win. Worked out fine. |
Phil was coaching the team when he demanded the trade. He came back, coached Kobe for 2 seasons and then Kobe demanded the trade.
What calmed Kobe down was the early success of the Lakers in 07 due to the emergence of Andrew Bynum, who has a bad rep now as a slacker, but at that time I remember him as an extremely hard worker and then ultimately Pau Gasol. Phil obviously had something to do with all of this clicking, but it wasn't Phil who calmed him down. |
That's right. Over the last seven years, I've found it fascinating to see people like the OP try to re-write history to make Kobe's actions defensible or even heroic. The reality is that Kobe got the chance to be the centerpiece of the team after the Shaq trade, got frustrated when the re-build took longer than he expected, demanded a trade, and then used his no-trade clause as a veto power over any trades that did not suit his personal tastes. He made a fool of himself, and thus we get the revisionist history.
Recently, I've been sort of amused by Kobe's ongoing efforts to control the discussion of his own legacy, the latest installment being Muse. Kobe is essentially trying to write his own obituary. Anyway, I laughed when Kobe told an interviewer that leaving the Lakers just wasn't his style, or whatever the exact words were. Yeah, right. In 2007, he didn't leave because he wanted to dictate the terms of the trade in his favor. In 2015, he isn't leaving because no one would take his contract, even if he hadn't gotten hurt.
Kobe is entitled to do whatever he wants with his career. But he can't erase the Pluto comment from history just because it's inconvenient for his narrative. |
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Oliver Reed
Star Player
Joined: 28 Sep 2014
Posts: 2626
Location: Globo Gym
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| Posted: Mon Mar 02, 2015 7:58 am Post subject: |
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| Aeneas Hunter wrote: | | akk7 wrote: | | LakersNewEra wrote: | It was hiring Phil that calmed Kobe down. When they hired Phil, he was more confident that the Lakers were about winning. And they were.
Ironically, Kobe and Phil were still thought to be on very bad terms at the time. But Kobe knew Phil would not tolerate any BS from the FO and Im sure he saw Phil as an ally.. After all, they both had a common goal. Win. Just win. Worked out fine. |
Phil was coaching the team when he demanded the trade. He came back, coached Kobe for 2 seasons and then Kobe demanded the trade.
What calmed Kobe down was the early success of the Lakers in 07 due to the emergence of Andrew Bynum, who has a bad rep now as a slacker, but at that time I remember him as an extremely hard worker and then ultimately Pau Gasol. Phil obviously had something to do with all of this clicking, but it wasn't Phil who calmed him down. |
That's right. Over the last seven years, I've found it fascinating to see people like the OP try to re-write history to make Kobe's actions defensible or even heroic. The reality is that Kobe got the chance to be the centerpiece of the team after the Shaq trade, got frustrated when the re-build took longer than he expected, demanded a trade, and then used his no-trade clause as a veto power over any trades that did not suit his personal tastes. He made a fool of himself, and thus we get the revisionist history.
Recently, I've been sort of amused by Kobe's ongoing efforts to control the discussion of his own legacy, the latest installment being Muse. Kobe is essentially trying to write his own obituary. Anyway, I laughed when Kobe told an interviewer that leaving the Lakers just wasn't his style, or whatever the exact words were. Yeah, right. In 2007, he didn't leave because he wanted to dictate the terms of the trade in his favor. In 2015, he isn't leaving because no one would take his contract, even if he hadn't gotten hurt.
Kobe is entitled to do whatever he wants with his career. But he can't erase the Pluto comment from history just because it's inconvenient for his narrative. |
Magic asked to be traded back in 82 when him and Westhead butted heads. |
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kikanga
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Joined: 15 Sep 2012
Posts: 29285
Location: La La Land
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| Posted: Mon Mar 02, 2015 8:24 am Post subject: |
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Big difference this time around. Jerry West ain't doing us any favors.
Back then, Jerry hooked his apprentice (mitch) up with Pau.
Nowadays, he has a lesser role in GS and I doubt he'd support any Laker trade for Klay.
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"Every hurt is a lesson, and every lesson makes you better” |
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greenfrog
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Joined: 02 Jan 2011
Posts: 36081
Location: 502 Bad Gateway
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| Posted: Mon Mar 02, 2015 10:08 am Post subject: |
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| kikanga wrote: | Big difference this time around. Jerry West ain't doing us any favors.
Back then, Jerry hooked his apprentice (mitch) up with Pau.
Nowadays, he has a lesser role in GS and I doubt he'd support any Laker trade for Klay. |
As others have pointed out, the ship had already turned around well before Pau was there.
Was Fisher signed before or after he asked for a trade? So long ago..
EDIT: West was already gone from Memphis, IIRC.
Last edited by greenfrog on Mon Mar 02, 2015 11:55 am; edited 1 time in total |
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lakersken80
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Joined: 12 Aug 2009
Posts: 38783
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| Posted: Mon Mar 02, 2015 11:29 am Post subject: |
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| greenfrog wrote: | | kikanga wrote: | Big difference this time around. Jerry West ain't doing us any favors.
Back then, Jerry hooked his apprentice (mitch) up with Pau.
Nowadays, he has a lesser role in GS and I doubt he'd support any Laker trade for Klay. |
As others have pointed out, the ship had already turned around well before Pau was there.
Was Fisher signed before or after he asked for a trade? So long ago.. |
Lakers were in first place in the western conference before Pau was traded to the Lakers. The emergence of Andrew Bynum, the addition of Ariza and Fisher were factors, not to mention Sasha was having his best year of his career that season. |
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Vishnu
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Joined: 24 Jun 2005
Posts: 16558
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| Posted: Mon Mar 02, 2015 11:32 am Post subject: |
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| I've never forgotten that. That hurt. Kobe went from definitely my favorite player of all time to probably my favorite player of all time, and we'll see if someone else comes along. |
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