# Kobe Bryant . Franchise Cancer (article)?



## PauloCatarino (May 31, 2003)

> He is arguably the greatest player in the history of the Lakers' franchise. He is also destroying it from within.
> 
> (...)
> 
> ...


http://espn.go.com/espn/feature/story/_/id/11717596/is-kobe-bryant-reason-los-angeles-lakers-downfall

Funny stuff.


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## e-monk (Sep 10, 2010)

Henry Abbot is a joke - he needs a fact checker on multiple counts


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## Smath (Nov 29, 2010)

Cancer? :laugh: is this guy for real ?


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## King Sancho Fantastic (Jul 19, 2005)

No mention of Basketball Reasons. A glaring omission IMO.


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## King Sancho Fantastic (Jul 19, 2005)

> @Yg_Trece: Now how crazy does that Kobe story sound to you ? #MediaReachingAgain


That's Paul George's twitter btw.


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## King Sancho Fantastic (Jul 19, 2005)

Also fails to mention the death of Dr. Buss too...


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## e-monk (Sep 10, 2010)

or the fact that it was Steve Nash (not Kobe) screaming at Dwight during games


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## hobojoe (Jun 20, 2003)

I hope that one day the Magic can acquire a cancer to win them five rings then "destroy" them from within.


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## Uncle Drew (Dec 16, 2013)

The idea that Kobe is not high on people's most desired teammate list is, well, accurate. He's an a******, dominates the ball and is worshiped in LA meaning if things go bad, it's your fault, not his. This story isn't new. In fact, it's old as hell. 

Where this article fails miserably is in the "facts" it uses to back up this premise. I mean holy crap, does he think nobody knows what _Actually_ happened in any of his examples? 

"Everybody else takes the blame...even Shaq!" Where tf did this come from? Kobe spent 2-3 years rehabbing his image when everyone blamed him for splitting up the team. Wasn't until Phil came back that people finally started to move on. 

"What happened to Ramon Sessions?" Sure, Ramon left because of Kobe. Go ahead and ignore that Ramon was ready to re-sign, he was just looking for a long term deal when Steve Nash dropped in to our lap (seemed like a great move at the time) and we kindly said thanks but no thanks. 

"Lebron and Paul George didn't even listen to the Lakers". Lebron didn't seriously consider anybody but CLE. PG was never even a FA. WTF

"In contract extension talks, Andrew Bynum wanted to know..." wait a sec, who the f*** cares what Andrew Bynum thinks? 

Oh, and let's recyle the "Dwight didn't want to play with Kobe" story. Great insider stuff. I swear, all that was missing from this article was "Kobe didn't talk to Smush Parker for two years".


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## Basel (Mar 31, 2005)

Henry Abbott is one of the bigger haters of Kobe ever. It's ridiculous. This guys written so many anti-Kobe articles. This is just another terrible article that gets people talking. Guy is a joke and I have no idea how he has the job he has.


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## DaRizzle (May 22, 2007)

While Im not going to say the article is totally factual I DO think there is some truth within it.

I can easily believe players dont want to play with Kobe at this stage in his career. Kobe's mouth is still at 100% while his game is down to 70% of what it used to be. Kobe is a dick and nobody refutes that, even Kobe. People can deal with dicks when they win, but dicks are the first to get tossed to the side when they lose a step (ex: Terrell Owens). Kobe obviously isnt getting tossed to the side but Id imagine other players dont want to be berated by Kobe if it isnt going to equal a championship.

I can also see something into the 2 year Kobe deal and the reasoning in the article for overpaying him. The Mitch quote about Kobe retiring a Laker "and this deal ensures so"...is a little puzzling when Kobe has said he wants to play past this contract.

The Lakers did get Chris Paul (for 3 hours) and Dwight so its not like the Lakers werent a favorable destination w/Kobe but I do think the Lakers have been in virtual freefall since. Kobe's massive injuries AND choosing D'Antoni over Phil really have crippled the Lakers plans. For better or worse Dwight would still be a Laker if Phil was coach.

If I were to spread the blame for the current status of the Lakers it would be:
40% DAVID ****ING STERN
35% 'lil Jimmy
25% Kobe

DAVID STERN KILLED THE LAKERS. If this were poker Stern made the Lakers show their cards before the final round of betting. That butterfly effect still has several years to run its course. It wasted all the time the Lakers put into making that deal. What different deals could the Lakers have gotten if they never had to waste their time with the non-CP3 trade. While Pau Gasol had that horrendous playoff performance the previous season the CP3 trade was the first time all the Gasol trade facts/rumors started. Ever since that point the possibility of being traded was always screwing with Pau's mind. That non-trade turned the Lakers 6th man of the year Odom LITERALLY into a crackhead. While of course that is horrible on a personal level it SCREWED the Lakers from having ANY leverage in trade talks. Everybody knew the Lakers were done with Pau and Odom and therefore didnt offer jack squat in trades.

We could have gotten HALL OF FAMER CP3 for Pau and Lamar, this is what we got instead:
Odom- trade exception, protected 1st round pick
Pau- NOTHING

**** you David Stern


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## Wilt_The_Stilt (Jun 7, 2002)

It obviously hurts our chances to have a guy be paid like a top player when he isn't one, but the talk about his personality is stupid. That is how he has always been.


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## e-monk (Sep 10, 2010)

DaRizzle said:


> choosing D'Antoni over Phil really have crippled the Lakers plans.


this was never an actual choice - Phil Jackson never seriously considered coaching again, he would have considered running the whole show as with the Knicks but even so he was done coaching and would have and has hired someone else to do the job on the bench


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## DaRizzle (May 22, 2007)

e-monk said:


> this was never an actual choice - Phil Jackson never seriously considered coaching again, he would have considered running the whole show as with the Knicks but even so he was done coaching and would have and has hired someone else to do the job on the bench


I dont think you are right...


> It was reported Monday that Jackson had intended to take the job, though -- he was merely waiting on medical clearance to do so.
> 
> The information on Jackson's thought process comes in a bombshell story by Ramona Shelburne that focuses heavily on the process and conversations that eventually led to Dwight Howard's departure from Los Angeles. The report also included details on a confrontation between Kobe Bryant, Steve Nash and Dwight Howard.


http://www.sbnation.com/nba/2013/7/8/4505714/los-angeles-lakers-phil-jackson-kobe-bryant

Then this quote by Jeanie a few months ago:


> Later that night, Jeanie Buss, the Lakers co-owner and executive who is Jackson's fiancée, said the Lakers didn't have a job for him.
> 
> "He was not offered any official position," said Buss on "Access SportsNet" on Time Warner Cable SportsNet.


http://articles.latimes.com/2014/mar/19/sports/la-sp-ln-jeanie-buss-phil-jackson-lakers-job-20140319


So there's is Ramona Shelburne whos always with the Lakers saying he would have taken the job if offered.

Then you have Jeanie saying no job of ANY capacity was ever offered....

How the **** are the Lakers not even going to offer the coaching job to Phil??? or ANY job to him????

This issue is the biggest part of the blame I give to lil Jimmy :twoguns:


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## e-monk (Sep 10, 2010)

you're forgetting the part about the level of control he demanded and that he wanted to be part time - he was never seriously considering the actual job itself


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## DaRizzle (May 22, 2007)

e-monk said:


> you're forgetting the part about the level of control he demanded and that he wanted to be part time - he was never seriously considering the actual job itself


I think that notion being floated around about coaching part time was mostly BS. Phil getting medical clearance to coach makes it seem that he would have been with them full time.

...And what about "power"....any extra power he is going to get will be taken off Mitchs plate, not Jimmy. So even if true why the hell would Jimmy care if that was a real issue?

Look at this:



> Q: Did you ever get complete clarity on whose decision it was to back out of what seemed like an agreement (when the Lakers hired Mike D'Antoni in Nov. 2012 after it appeared Jackson was returning)?
> 
> A: You know, it was something that has bounced from spot to spot. When I left (the interview), Jimmy was pretty happy about it and Mitch was still saying, "We're going to keep interviewing people," and* I think the ultimate (decision) kind of rested with Dr. Buss and he made the decision in the hospital the day after.* I haven't chosen to bite on that. I've just let that go. I'm real comfortable with it. I don't have any trouble.


http://www.usatoday.com/story/sport...rning-los-angeles-lakers-jeanie-buss/5945745/

Sounds like Phil was waiting to get hired as coach.


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## PauloCatarino (May 31, 2003)

The counter-article:



> Kobe didn't cause this
> 
> Kobe Bryant is many things, some of which Los Angeles Lakers fans will have to come to grips with over the final years of his incredible career. He's a five-time NBA champion, partnering with Shaquille O'Neal to bring glory back to the Lakers following Magic Johnson's early retirement, then doing so again with Pau Gasol and a well-rounded supporting cast. He's the torch bearer, standing as the lone franchise player remaining at the end of a glorious era. He's a declining and aged player, coming off of two significant injuries after playing an amount of minutes so high it's not even worth quantifying anymore. He's a stubborn asshole, with demands and expectations so high he's considered one of the most difficult players to co-exist with in the NBA.
> 
> Yes, Kobe Bryant is many things, but that doesn't mean he's everything, and he certainly isn't the lone and leading reason the Lakers are a franchise in the midst of a "downfall," though Henry Abbott of ESPN came to this conclusion in a feature set to run in ESPN Magazine.


http://www.silverscreenandroll.com/2014/10/20/7024989/la-lakers-kobe-bryant-espn-downfall


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## e-monk (Sep 10, 2010)

http://deadspin.com/jeanie-buss-goe...ource=deadspin_facebook&utm_medium=socialflow

Buss responded: "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."


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## Basel (Mar 31, 2005)

Go Jeanie!


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## DaRizzle (May 22, 2007)

She also touched on Phil being a coach. Again it sounds like he was going to take the job and just needed a small amount of time to verify his family was okay with it along with his health being well enough...


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