kobe wants out

[Aloysius]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Deal No. 1: Phoenix trades Shawn Marion, Leandro Barbosa, Marcus Banks and the rights to Atlanta's 2008 1st-rounder to the Lakers for Kobe and Radmanovic.

[/ QUOTE ]
CHRIST HELL NO. I wouldn't trade a $17M ham sandwich for Kobe. Screw that punk-ass. I like to actually like the players on the team I root for.

[/ QUOTE ]

Tuq - you like Marion? I like him as a player, think he's great, but isn't he a whiny, insecure head-case? That was always my impression.

Hate Kobe all you want but the guy is one of the few players to leave it all on the floor most games.

-Al

[Ralph Wiggum]

Seriously, I don't understand Marion's insecurities. Being the highest paid player for most of his career isn't enough? I can't imagine the Lakers would take him for Kobe, but if so, Suns are your 2008 champs.

[tuq]

Al,

I don't know of anyone here in town who doesn't like Marion. Insecure, sure, but not to the point of disruption that I am aware of. I also have a few friends within the Suns organization and they roll their eyes about him too but nobody seems to want him gone. His $15M per salary is the problem, not him personally IMO. And as much as he feels neglected in the shadow of Nash and Amare, you'll notice he never demands a trade or pusses out to a crappy Hawks team like Joe Johnson did (even though the Suns were willing to match the contract).

Also, I agree with SuperDuperBob that this is all probably a pointless exercise - the Lakers need him too much to sell tickets and his options are limited. I just think he's a pulling a Manny.

[NicksDad1970]

[ QUOTE ]
Al,

I don't know of anyone here in town who doesn't like Marion. Insecure, sure, but not to the point of disruption that I am aware of. I also have a few friends within the Suns organization and they roll their eyes about him too but nobody seems to want him gone. His $15M per salary is the problem, not him personally IMO. And as much as he feels neglected in the shadow of Nash and Amare, you'll notice he never demands a trade or pusses out to a crappy Hawks team like Joe Johnson did (even though the Suns were willing to match the contract).

Also, I agree with SuperDuperBob that this is all probably a pointless exercise - the Lakers need him too much to sell tickets and his options are limited. I just think he's a pulling a Manny.

[/ QUOTE ]

I like Amare more than Marion. What's the consensus in the desert?

[Sickboy]

[ QUOTE ]
Seriously, I don't understand Marion's insecurities. Being the highest paid player for most of his career isn't enough? I can't imagine the Lakers would take him for Kobe, but if so, Suns are your 2008 champs.

[/ QUOTE ]

No way they take him for Marion and something else..you'd have to offer a sweet sweet deal especially since they are in the same conference.

I figure the Lakers would have to think about Marion+Barbosa+Atlanta's 1st rounder next year for Kobe and a player with a contract LA wants to get rid of.

But Phx should jump for joy if that deal happened.
Kobe >>>> Marion + Barbosa + 1st rounder... hell even + Diaw.
especially come playoff time in those final two minutes.

yeah Suns have a good shot to win it next year...they just have to cross their fingers and hope the Spurs and Mavericks get eliminated in round 1.

[RobertJohn]

I was going to start my own thread about this until I saw this one.

Background: Lifelong Lakers fan, I have memories of my dad pointing out Jack Nicholson to me when I was a kid at the Great Western Forum and I’ve sat courtside during the last Lakers dynasty a few seats across from Magic himself. The day Magic announced his retirement will be etched in my memory forever.

Nowadays, my dad’s friends give him [censored] for not following the Lakers anymore since he “can’t stand Kobe.” I’ve always felt the same way (since anyone who watches the games knows that Bryant is one of the worst team players to ever play pro ball), but I had a lot of love for Shaq, who is one of the greats and handled himself so well and was beloved by the fans (one EX: he paid for George Mikan’s funeral when he heard that the Mikan family was having trouble handling the costs).

I would never stop watching (or cheering) for the Lakers, but TBH, I’m not a big fan of Kobe’s even thought he is so elite. He just doesn’t do the little things as a leader that make a cohesive, winning team with good morale.

However, I just heard the latest [censored] on KCAL9 about Kobe demanding a trade or something, and I think its absurd. I would love for them to trade his ass (I would take Oden/Roy and some draft picks and sign another big name) since he’s really killing it here and making it hard for true Lakers fans who realize the team, its history and legacy, are much bigger than one athlete who is too full of himself and thinks a championship will just be handed to him.

Questions: Are there any other Lakers fans who get turned off by Kobe (I’m talking about those who go to games, watch the games, and aren’t just fair-weather fans) and wouldn’t mind shipping him? What would be some possible scenarios and who would you be willing to trade for him (theoretically) and would be your rebuilding plan?

[tuq]

[ QUOTE ]
I like Amare more than Marion. What's the consensus in the desert?

[/ QUOTE ]
They're all beloved. The only reason I even know the Marion stuff is from reading the McCallum book and the friends I know within the organization. Your average Joe Six-Pack who is less invested isn't aware, it's not like Marion's T.O. or something, being disruptive all the time.

And there's the thing - Kobe seems to generally be a prick. He's also extremely unpopular in Phoenix for rivalry/Raja Bell reasons, so public support to get him would be fairly tepid compared to other places he'd fit like Chicago. I mean, if a trade actually happens the Lakers would probably get no more than 75 cents on the dollar for him, so it's a great chance to improve one's title chances, but I'd probably rather take a 30% chance of winning it all next year over a 50% chance with him on the team.

To be succinct, I'm glad that the Suns have always put such an emphasis on character.

[Artdogg]

I think Sickboy was put on this earth to piss off me and tuq.

[dlk9s]

Because I KNOW Kobe wants to go to my Milwaukee Bucks, I worked out a trade for him.

Milwaukee gets: Kobe
Los Angeles gets: Dan Gadzuric, Bobby Simmons, Damir Markota

Ship it.

[rakes.a.beach]

[ QUOTE ]
CHRIST HELL NO. I wouldn't trade a $17M ham sandwich for Kobe. Screw that punk-ass. I like to actually like the players on the team I root for.

[/ QUOTE ]

QFT.



I like Marion better a lot more than amare. I think amare is pretty dumb.