Free Agents don't want to play with Kobe?

[RaisingTheBar]

http://deadspin.com/anonymous-nba-ag...-br-1648725291

Peek behind the banners,” says one longtime NBA agent, “and it’s rotten.”

“Kobe is like the big rock in their front yard,” says an agent who has had a Lakers client in recent years. “You can’t mow over it, so you just have to mow around it.”


Another agent with current Lakers clients was asked whether Bryant undermined the team’s rebuilding by alienating would-be free agent recruits. “Well, duh,” he replied. “Isn’t that obvious?”

"I've had a lot of clients in the last five years, good players, who didn't want to play with Kobe," says an agent who has had numerous NBA stars. "They see that his teammates become the chronic public whipping boys. Anyone who could possibly challenge Kobe for the spotlight ends up becoming a pincushion for the media. Even Shaq."

"I just never felt like the Lakers put as much effort into the building-the-team part of it," says an agent who once had a free agent decline a Lakers offer. "I saw some things in the players' parking lot. Conversations between Bynum and his people and some people with the Lakers. It got pretty rough and heated."

"It's horrendous. It's evil. It's a hard drug to quit when you're winning," says a front office executive from a rival team who knows everyone involved well. "Kobe has cost the Lakers dearly in human capital. Kobe has hurt a lot of people. In some cases jeopardized careers."

[DroopyDawg]

Oh yeah duyde nobody wants to play with Kobe. If they ask dudes on camera then they'll walk the company line and say that they would... but the whole NBA knows that dude is a d-bag sandwich..

[UNO Gracias]

I have been thinking this for a while now, and when I have come across Laker fans I have expressed the same sentiments. A decade ago the Lakers of Shaq and Kobe netted Malone and The Glove as they wanted to chase a ring. Kobe isn't the Kobe of his prime, but if you want to win a ring and you can't team up with Lebron, Kobe is still your best option. But nobody is doing it. Why? Because Kobe doesn't pass. Kobe doesn't listen. Kobe doesn't give a damn. At this point he is more in it for the money than anything, and the Exodus of Howard and more recently Gasol lends itself to that theory. It's on record that Kobe didn't want to pitch LA to anyone. He wasn't going to be used like a pawn. He is going it alone, and if somebody gets in the way of him keeping his big money deal he wont want anything with it.

The Lakers are on the skids, and depending on how the next 3-4 years of the Clippers play out, the Lakers could be the 3rd most popular team in LA after UCLA. Players today wont go to LA just because it's LA, and Kobe wont bring people to him. So how do they get better? They have to pray Randal pays off and becomes the next great big, or they will be the new Minnesota Lakers.

[new city champ]

Interesting read. I think it was a mistake to give Kobe the extension, even given the negative short-term impact his release might have had on revenues and the potential longterm impact of letting go of one of the franchise's greatest players and watching him finish his career with another team. If Kobe helped you rebuild, was a guy young stars wanted to suit up next to, then you extend him. He's not that guy, so you let him walk. It's happened plenty in sports with everyone from Kareem to Joe Montana. Sure it causes a ruckus, but it's also a way for a team to demonstrate to fans that the franchise is bigger than any one player, which is comforting. It also can be a way for a new owner, like Jim Buss, to set his marker, much the way Jerry Jones did when he let Tom Landry and Tex Schram go from the Cowboys. Jones took some heat, but it became clear in the long run it was the right move, even if it was handled badly. If the Lakers had let Kobe walk, they could have gone into the 2014 and 2015 FA classes with a dump truck full of cash and the most desired location in the league for potential superstars. It would have been well worth the gamble.

[MMEmbreno]

What's new

[DefensiveMind]

The Lakers will be just fine in two years....When the Kobe Extension kicks rocks. There is plenty of public information about the Who, What, When, Where, Why, and How the Lakers did what they did. Long story short, by paying Kobe the Lakers insured that their cash cow franchise continues being just that. Until LA stops being LA and the Lakers stop printing money they will get who and what they want when the time is right.

[Davisistheman]

Jeanie Buss had an interesting response to those claims.

"Any free agent that would be afraid to play with Kobe Bryant is probably a loser, and I'm glad they wouldn't come to the team," Buss said during a "SportsCenter" interview Thursday

Might want to be careful calling people losers, you might need them to play for you in the future...JMO...

[HornetGuru]

Jeanie Buss had an interesting response to those claims.



Might want to be careful calling people losers, you might need them to play for you in the future...JMO...

Agreed, sounds immature in all honesty. Def wouldn't want that guy to be my agent.

Also i wouldn't wanna play with kobe.

[Asteptooslow]

The year he got hurt first he was playing awesome. It was the only time I enjoyed watching him play. He was incredible at that age. He will figure it out soon if he wants to continue playing and get some humility. He has to if he wants to make his retirement tour for his ego.

[RhythmNathan]

In comment section:

"My brother once got an autograph from Kobe.

Kobe kept the pen.

True Story"

[thefuture]

In comment section:

"My brother once got an autograph from Kobe.

Kobe kept the pen.

True Story"

Literally worse than Hitler, get the pitchforks

[RaisingTheBar]

In comment section:

"My brother once got an autograph from Kobe.

Kobe kept the pen.

True Story"

[Caffeinedisastr]

Kobe's theme song.

[Davisistheman]

Agreed, sounds immature in all honesty. Def wouldn't want that guy to be my agent.

Also i wouldn't wanna play with kobe.

I may be misunderstanding this comment, but She's CO-Owner of the Lakers.

As far as Kobe, he's going to go down as one of the greatest, I didn't care for him when he came in, then I started appreciating just how much better he was than everyone else, now I'm back to not caring for him. The last few time I saw him play live, he literally runs the court with a ref at his side and Kobe complains to the ref the whole time. And the ref usually calls a foul seemingly to shut him up (for a little while.)

Kobe is still good (when healthy) but his body is old, and slowing down, (not to mention breaking down) It's starting to get sad seeing him hobbling around out there with the kids, all the while knowing that in his head, he thinks he's keeping up with them. IMO Kobe missed a great chance to go out like a king when Dr. Buss passed away and the team was obviouly having to reinvent itself. But to take the two year contract when the team need to rebuild kinda looks tarnished to me. ( I know, I should turn down that kind of money before I judge..) Still further tarnishes him in my eyes.

[Pantazis76]

Always been the case..
Dwight left LA because Kobe expected too much of him, and thought he was superior over him.
Instead of treating him like the star free agent he basically felt like he was another guy coming to play with Kobe.

[PelsNola]

Derek Fisher, Pau Gasol, Lamar Odom, Ron Artest, Steve Nash, Steve Blake, Matt Barnes i believe all signed free agent contracts with the Lakers. Some were traded but i believe had contracts expire and resigned with the Lakers. Dwight is the only one who walked away, and he is certainly a head case himself so i would not put much emphasis on that. Other than Lebron, how many top tier nba players have signed free agent contracts; Dwight Howard??? Who else???