2014-15 Lakers Season Thread (21-61) KAT

This summer, if the chance comes, Love, Rondo, Neither, or Both?

  • Love

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  • Rondo

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  • Neither

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  • Both

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COME ON SON.  No disrespect to the most luckiest coach ever.  He tamed the personalities and egos.
 
DALLAS -- Kobe Bryant considers the public pressure for longtime NBA stars to take hometown-discount deals such as Dirk Nowitzki's contract "a big coup" for NBA owners.

"It's the popular thing to do," Bryant said after the Los Angeles Lakers' shootaround in preparation for Friday's game against Nowitzki's Dallas Mavericks. "The player takes less, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. I think it's a big coup for the owners to put players in situations where public perception puts pressure on them to take less money. Because if you don't, then you get criticized for it.

"It's absolutely brilliant, but I'm not going for it. I know the new head of the players association ain't going for it, either."

Bryant, 36, agreed to a two-year, $48.5 million extension with the Lakers last season, when he was recovering from a torn Achilles tendon. The deal is for less than Bryant was eligible to make on a maximum contract but still makes him the highest-paid player in the league.

Nowitzki, 36, re-signed with the Mavs this summer for $25 million over three years, taking far less than his market value to leave Dallas owner Mark Cuban enough salary-cap space to make roster upgrades.

What does Bryant think about Nowitzki , who has never used an agent, taking such a steep hometown discount?

"I think it means he's not playing in Los Angeles," Bryant said with a laugh.

Nowitzki, who has made more than $200 million during his career, has said several times that the chance to win a second championship is much more important to him than money during his basketball golden years. The Mavs, whose offseason acquisitions included center Tyson Chandler and small forward Chandler Parsons, are off to a 9-3 start.

Bryant, who had almost $280 million in career earnings entering this season, has won five championships and believes the Lakers can contend again with him as the league's highest-paid player. The Lakers, who are off to a 3-9 start, had enough cap space to pursue Carmelo Anthony and Chris Bosh in free agency this summer but weren't able to sign either player.

"This is where players get themselves in a lot of trouble, which me in my 19th year I really don't care, so I'll kind of say what I need to say," said Bryant, who indicated that he would retire at the end of this contract. "But I think you've got to look at the business of basketball. I think for a lot of writers, for a lot of fans, they have a very tough time distinguishing the two.

"This is a business, and you have to look at individuals and what they generate and the market that they're generating revenue in. And you can't separate those. People have a hard time separating that stuff. From a business perspective, you have to take that stuff into account and you have to try to, as a player, be in situations where it can be a win-win for everybody.

"So did I take a discount? Yeah. Did I take as big a discount as some of you fans would want me to? No. Is it a big enough discount to help us be a contender? Yeah. So what we try to do is be in a situation where they take care of the player and the player takes care of the organization enough to put us in a championship predicament eventually."
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Kobe said he took a discount at 48/2? lmaoooo my *****. I ***** with kobe bruh bruh.



With that said...'Amnesty Game pt. 2'

3 in a row.
 
Sounds right to me. From 30 to 24, that's a 20% pay cut. I don't know how he does it. 

kinda sorta almost serious
 
Freeze said:
Kobe said he took a discount at 48/2? lmaoooo my *****. I ***** with kobe bruh bruh.



With that said...'Amnesty Game pt. 2'

3 in a row.
Click to expand...
Please dont wish that ill will on me.

If we don't get J Okafor this season will be a loss.

mean.gif
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we've discussed the kobe contract ad nauseam. i get what he's saying, though.

would you guys consider the mavs contenders? because TO ME, even with dirk's discount, they're middle of the road playoff team due for an early round exit (even at 9-3).

in a way, i am 'team tank'. i want that top 5 draft pick next year. i've held the belief that this franchise wont change and wont get back into contention until kobe retires, regardless if he took a discount or not. with that said, i still fail to see how kobe's contract hinders the rebuild/championship contention process.
 
Freeze said:
Kobe said he took a discount at 48/2? lmaoooo my *****. I ***** with kobe bruh bruh.



With that said...'Amnesty Game pt. 2'

3 in a row.
Click to expand...
Kobe was eligible to earn $30M+ per year, so he technically did take a paycut. :lol

As for tonight's game, the Mavs are the best scoring team in the league. So yeah.

Edit:

Mavs contending is interesting. Like I said, they're the best offensive team in the league so far. They're sitting just outside the top ten in defense too. I just don't trust their ****** guards in a playoff series. Usually the recipe to be in the convo for contending is being in the top eight in both offense and defense. Oh and Rick Carlise is the second best coach in the league.
 
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denni5themenace said:
we've discussed the kobe contract ad nauseam. i get what he's saying, though.

would you guys consider the mavs contenders? because TO ME, even with dirk's discount, they're middle of the road playoff team due for an early round exit (even at 9-3).

in a way, i am 'team tank'. i want that top 5 draft pick next year. i've held the belief that this franchise wont change and wont get back into contention until kobe retires, regardless if he took a discount or not. with that said, i still fail to see how kobe's contract hinders the rebuild/championship contention process.
Click to expand...

They're more in the hunt than we are, which is what Dirk is thinking. Remember, he wasn't supposed to be in the hunt in 2011, and it worked out. He was supposed to lose to Portland, then to us, then to OKC, and then to Miami, and he took it.

Will it happen for sure this year? No, course not. But he feels like his team can at least get to the party, maybe host a round or two, and then roll the dice from there.


Kobe and his contract, won't sniff that same party, and that's ok, for what we need (our pick back) it works out. Had he taken the same deal, we might then have not stressed on Melo or Bosh or Bron passin on us, and maybe Mitch calls Lance, IT, and def Chandler Parsons and tries to combine them with Randle and a returning Kobe. Add a big (Pau + Ed Davis perhaps) and maybe they "get to the party" and roll those dice. We'll never know of course, it's all in theory, but the options were more limited when he took an extra 13-14 mil more than Dirk or Duncan did.

I'm fine with Mitch saying Max elite or nothing. I am. Helps us keep that pick. But an extra 13 mil could have swayed the thought process to pull in 2-3 2nd tier guys and try to make a run, which is what Dirk is going for.

Dirk will have a chance at a title.
We have a chance at keeping our pick.

Clearly, there's a difference. Don't make either one right or wrong, but there is CLEARLY, a difference.
 
Old, grumpy Kobe has been am awesome quote machine these last three or four years.
 
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