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Can you
hear him?
“I’m
still frustrated.”
Are you
listening?
“I’m
waiting for them to make some changes.”
Do you
understand what Kobe Bryant was saying Saturday in an
interview with The Times’ Mike Bresnahan?
Bryant
is still frustrated even though the Lakers have had
nearly a month to calm him.
Bryant
is still demanding changes even though he knows
surgeries to trade-worthy Kwame Brown and Lamar Odom
will prevent them from making changes.
Can you
hear him?
Kobe
Bryant is asking the Lakers to soothe him beyond their
ability and trade beyond their resources.
Could it
be that he is asking for something else entirely?
Could
Kobe Bryant be asking for a trade without asking for a
trade?
Sounds
like it.
Sounds
exactly like it.
Sounds
like Bryant heard the expected bad news about Odom, the
surprise bad news about Brown, the stunning lottery news
that has Greg Oden and Kevin Durant coming to the
Western Conference, and he knows.
He knows
his chances of winning another championship here during
his prime are now officially nearing zero.
He knows
that the Lakers’ best trade option this summer is now
him.
He knows
that if he publicly demands a trade, the Lakers would
scold him and fans would skewer him.
So he
continues to drop little bombs of dissatisfaction like
he drops three-point shots, quick and unexpected and
chilling.
Bryant
clearly stated Saturday that he had not asked for a
trade.
But
those little bombs have finally backed the Lakers into a
corner out of which the only exit is to trade him.
And you
know something? It’s time. They should do it. It hurts
to even write the words. But they should do it.
Bryant
is the most entertaining athlete in American sports, a
perfect fit for America’s entertainment capital.
But Los
Angeles is also about winning. And the smart Lakers fans
are about winning. And as constituted, the Lakers cannot
get past the first round with Bryant, much less win a
championship with him.
His high
salary keeps them from getting a second superstar needed
to win. Poor trades have left the lineup bereft of the
top role players needed to win. And with Bryant on the
floor, the Lakers will always be barely too good for a
lottery draft pick needed to win.
What
many fearfully suspected when Jerry Buss handed Bryant
the franchise three years ago has been proven true.
Bryant
has given
Los Angeles fans wonderful moments, but, asked to carry an ordinary
team, he cannot give them championship moments.
Given
his understandable unhappiness, Bryant’s most enduring
value is now in the players that can be acquired for
him.
Bryant
began hinting at his unrest during the embarrassing
playoff series against Phoenix, when I asked him about
his desire to win another championship before age robs
his ability.
“We
definitely have to get to that elite level, and get to
that elite level, like, now,” he said then.
After
his postseason meeting with Lakers bosses, he spoke
again about wanting to be a champion again.
“I don’t
want to wait any more than I already have,” he said.
He drove
home from the facility and waited around for good news
and what happened? Nothing but bad.
Lamar
Odom’s shoulder injury was as awful as expected, ending
his chances of being an attractive trade commodity this
summer.
Kwame
Brown’s ankle injury is feared to be worse than
expected, also probably ending his chances of being
traded.
Portland
won the draft lottery and franchise center Oden, meaning
it could be a playoff team next season.
Seattle
won the second choice in the lottery, which it will
certainly use on franchise scorer Durant, also changing
its fortunes.
Bryant
saw all this, knew that the Lakers’ immediate future has
become even more hopeless, and what did he do?
When
Bresnahan contacted him Saturday during a usually calm
time in the NBA cycle, Bryant continued to cite his
frustration, and continued to ask for change.
Bryant
didn’t ask for a trade because he is savvy enough to
know that such a move would make him a villain again.
Instead,
he is seemingly trying to persuade the Lakers to do the
one thing they would never, ever do on their own.
General
manager Mitch Kupchak has said hundreds of times that he
would never trade Bryant. But if Kupchak thinks he
doesn’t have a choice?
He could
make a deal and hint that Bryant was unhappy, thus
relieving himself of the blame. Bryant could—and
would—nullify his no-trade clause, thus supporting
Kupchak’s claim.
The
Lakers could acquire another superstar and a couple of
top draft picks, rebuild the team like it was once
rebuilt with Shaquille O’Neal and Bryant, and everyone
would be happy.
Kupchak
would not talk about such a scenario. In fact, when
contacted by Lakers officials on Saturday, the amiable
Kupchak politely refused to do any sort of interview on
the subject.
He said
he had already answered these questions, and he was
right.
The
problem is, he has no answers.
About
Bryant’s frustration, Kupchak earlier said, “We feel
exactly the same way.”
About
his off-season plans, Kupchak said, “We’re going to be
as aggressive as we’ve always been.”
The
answer, of course, would be to never trade Shaquille
O’Neal, but Kupchak had no choice. If Bryant indeed
feels the way he sounds, Kupchak has no choice again.
Critics
will wail that it’s all so unfair and unseemly. Critics
will say that once again, the Lakers are bowing to the
mantra that what Kobe wants, Kobe gets.
Only
this time,
Kobe is right. |
