Kobe: "I would like to be traded"
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In a Wednesday interview with Stephen A. Smith on 1050 ESPN Radio in New York, Los Angeles Lakers megastar Kobe Bryant stated in no uncertain terms that he would like the team to trade him.
"I would like to be traded, yeah," Bryant told Smith. "Tough as it is to come to that conclusion, there's no other alternative, you know?"
Smith asked if there was anything the Lakers could do to change his mind.
"No," Bryant said. "I just want them to do the right thing."
Earlier in the day, Bryant told the press that L.A. owner Jerry Buss -- and not Bryant himself -- had orchestrated the 2004 trade of Shaquille O'Neal, something that O'Neal later confirmed. It was the final straw in a tumultuous offseason for Bryant and the Lakers, which began with a loss in the first round of the playoffs and continued when Bryant voiced his displeasure with the club's direction and suggested that ex-GM Jerry West should be brought back in to clean up current GM Mitch Kupchak's mess. In the most recent epsiode of this soap opera, Bryant was reportedly "beyond furious" after reading a story in Tuesday's Los Angeles Times that said, "as a Lakers insider notes, it was Bryant's insistence on getting away from Shaquille O'Neal that got them in this mess." According to Bryant, it was Buss's decision (and his alone) to trade the big man, despite the acrimonious relationship Bryant and O'Neal shared when they were teammates.
"Sure, Shaq and I had our issues," Bryant told Smith. "So what! We always did and we won three titles. That doesn't change what was told to me. It doesn't change the fact I never, ever, said to get rid of him."
Now Bryant wants either a drastic change in direction for the franchise, or his ticket out of L.A. as well.
"Promises made to make this team better have not been kept," Bryant told Smith. "So where does that leave me?"
UPDATE: "I want to be here for the rest of my career..."
Later today, Bryant talked to Dan Patrick on ESPN Radio and backed off on his trade demands.
"I'm so tired of talking," Bryant said. "It's tough. I always dreamed about retiring as a Laker. I just hope and hope that something can be resolved. Something can be figured out. Just something so I can stay here and be in this city and be with the team I love."
Bryant told Patrick he felt better about his situation after talking to Lakers coach Phil Jackson.
"When Phil and I spoke, he was optimistic and determined that we'll both be back," Bryant told Patrick. "Phil is somebody I listen to. I lean on him a lot. He assured me things are going to be OK. Things are going to be all right. Don't go full bore just yet. Take a deep breath and let us work these things out and everything will be all right. Which was very encouraging.
"I don't want to go anywhere else. I want to be here for the rest of my career. It was encouraging to hear that."
