A love that cannot be: Kobe and his cake
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by Suckatsports
Who knew that a rich NBA superstar could have an ego, such breaking news is why ESPN was created. Kobe Bryant is almost single handedly running the Lakers from his perch made of three championship rings. In his meteoric rise from high school phenom to NBA All Star he has learned how to play basketball, but ever since those three faithful years, he has forgotten how to win. Kobe loves Kobe, he doesn't love anything else. Well, there's money, but that's already included.
He wants everything to be perfect for him, and such actions are all but destroying the franchise that helped him become Kobe. With his contract running out, he was about to get a max deal, and he held Los Angeles hostage to get rid of the "selfish" Shaquille O'Neal, on his way to becoming a one-man wrecking crew. It was obvious that he wanted to do everything to show that he could win without anyone else, especially the overgrown child Shaq. Now, for reasons other than this, I actually agreed with the Lakers decision to get rid of O'Neal. Who knew he was going to reapply himself instead of being a fat, out of shape, overpaid monstrosity in the middle. Kobe got what he wanted, a contract that essentially makes him have all the executive decisions over the franchise, and that pays more money than anyone has seen before.
The only thin he forgot along the way, was that with all the money the Lakers devoted to him they couldn't put a team around him that was worth a damn. He really did his cake, he was the center of attention, and he was going to show everyone just how good he was. A historic December and several years later, he's still in the same place: not getting out of the first round.
This summer his frustrations over having incompetent teammates boiled over when he expressed his concerns to be traded. He of course went on every radio show sliding through the time zones slowly peeling away the petals of hatred, by the end expressing love for "his" team. While he publicly retracted his trade stance, he privately went to the front office and had his feelings be known. There is nothing wrong here.
The problem comes, when he decides where he's going to go in an already uneven trade. In fact, he already used his no trade clause to veto a trade to the Bulls because Luol Deng was involved. Kobe wants his cake, and to eat it too. There's really a multitude of proverbs that can explain his current situation (made his bed, now sleep in it for one) but the fact that Bryant as an intelligent person wants something completely unrealistic is surprising.
In essence, if he were to be traded, with his monster contract and skill the Lakers are already behind the eight ball in what they would get in return. Certainly no one player short of a Dwayne Wade or LeBron James is worthy of a one-for-one trade, Kobe is insisting on the other end that he does not want the other team's best player to leave. All this so he can have the opportunity to win in whatever place he's going. Can't have everything.
However this pans out, the Lakers are up shit's creek without a paddle. Much like the way Shaquille O'Neal's trade decimated their future plans, the Kobe Bryant trade is going to put them into the ground. They're about to trade him; and they won't get 80 cents on the dollar, they're going to get 20. Ben Wallace, Ron Artest say Hi to Hollywood.
Kobe does not want Deng to leave [ESPN.com]
This post is cross-published from We Suck at Sports.
