Lakers Thread

[Bruce]

why is everyone so high on artest? sure he got the talent but dont expect him to carry you anywhere. odds are he will be suspended before the playoffs anyway.

Basically, odom and artest has their own strengths. But, artest plays excellent defense, even with his hands tied behind his back. How I wish LA could swap brown for artest. Sacramento could take this trade, bec their seeking for a big man and seeking to dump artest. In a way I also think artest and kobe's personalities could jive. and a trio of odom-artest-bryant looks almost as good as a trio of kg-peirce-allen. With the former getting into trouble with the law first. marijuana-battery-rape... Now if they can acquire eddie griffin..

the lineup could look like this

C - Mihm/Bynum
PF - Odom/Cook/Turiaf
SF - Artest/Walton/Radmanovic
SG - Bryant/Evans/Karl
PG - Fisher/Crittenton/Farmer/Vujacic


Anyway, I really think mitch kupchak should be fired. who the hell gives devean george the entire MLE???

[Scottybasketball]

Who in there right mind would trade Artest for Kwame Brown?

[Sauru]

i also dont see bryant odom and artest as being on level with kg pierce and allen

[NovU]

why is everyone so high on artest? sure he got the talent but dont expect him to carry you anywhere. odds are he will be suspended before the playoffs anyway.

i was always high on artest because of his potential to become a superstar since he was the baby bull. he didn't live up to expectation however. it was obvious his focus was always off the court and never been seemed to stay away from the trouble. if work ethic has been there for artest, he would've been a superstar player just like pierce, ai, etc. even though, he showed signs of great plays time to time. he definitely one of those better players who can make a team better if can stay off the trouble.

[Bruce]

Who in there right mind would trade Artest for Kwame Brown?

Somebody desperate enough to please kobe... besides kwame almost always breaks down before the playoffs.

i also dont see bryant odom and artest as being on level with kg pierce and allen

No it's not... but it seems to have a better fighting chance than odom-walton-kobe, defintly weak on D

[cyanide]

if work ethic has been there for artest, he would've been a superstar player just like pierce, ai, etc.

If I'm not mistaken, he does have the work ethic. Not many work as hard as he does on defense; it's just his attitude and troubles that not a lot of teams are high on.

[NovU]

I just heard 6 years of Kobe's marriage is coming to an end very soon. It is said that the KCBS TV reported it sometime ago.

He will owe $100 million on divorce settlement. I think Venessa will be content with the money(former backdancer) and at least Kobe will be keeping every cents of future salary from the Lakers.

Here's another category that Kobe couldn't beat MJ. MJ's divorce cost him $150 million but Kobe only $100 million.

Troubled marriage leads to $100 millions of loss, oh boy...

[Kbryant8]

I just heard 6 years of Kobe's marriage is coming to an end very soon. It is said that the KCBS TV reported it sometime ago.

He will owe $100 million on divorce settlement. I think Venessa will be content with the money(former backdancer) and at least Kobe will be keeping every cents of future salary from the Lakers.

Here's another category that Kobe couldn't beat MJ. MJ's divorce cost him $150 million but Kobe only $100 million.

Troubled marriage leads to $100 millions of loss, oh boy...

Okay,let`s guess that`s true what you just sayid...
100 million isn`t a big money for a superstar like he is.
it`s hes 2 year shoe/commercial contract

[Sauru]

100 mil is big for anyone athlete, period. you gotta think about it, if a player signs a 100 mil contract for 5 seasons lets say. after you take the taxes outa that, agent fees, and all the expenses that come with being rich(like security and so on), you are not left with nearly 100 mil. so to pay 100 mil to a x wife, plus pay all your attorney fees its gonne hurt, no matter how much you make. now i aint gonna say a guy like bryant will be hurting, its just silly to say its no big deal to pay out 100 mil so your x can support some other guy

[whoseen]

worst basketball manager

http://www.cybercrap.com/?ref=iambanned

[Silas]

Oh man there he is again! But on the divorce note, that's a shame. Considering past events one can only imagine what led to this. But let's be realistic, we all know he was innocent.

[Sauru]

all i am gonna say is, good for her, put up with his shit for a few years and is now 100 mil richer for it, my god some women have it easy

[NovU]

http://www.withleather.com/post.phtml?pk=3538
lol this is hilarious

all i am gonna say is, good for her, put up with his shit for a few years and is now 100 mil richer for it, my god some women have it easy

yeah she deserves it, after all those years sharing the bed with a rapist(who carez if he's innocent or not. lol)

can't believe kobe didn't go for prenuptial agreement. i wish this makes kobe a more matured on and off the court. maybe he'll start winning now...

[[Q]]

no, that just makes him an idiot because she married him/dated him knowing he was an NBA player (they met on the set of the Destiny's Child video Bug-a-boo) and he was stupid enough to think it would last.

[Fresh8]

Will Kobe turn up to training camp? I wanna see what everyone thinks since Kobe is giving out mixed signals.

QBaller, I think, doesn't want to hear about Kobe turning up to Hawaii with the team!

[Andrew]

I'd be very surprised if Kobe did not report to camp. Even if he's still seeking a trade, pulling a stunt like that wouldn't do him any favours.

[Fresh8]

I don't think so either becuase he is very competitive to start with. He wouldn't let all that stuff get in the way of playing basketball especially after the spectacle he put on earlier in the Summer. But the same reason of how he acted (albeit very unprofessionally) a few months ago is the saem reason why I havea bit of concern at him being daring enough to holdout on the team to force a trade.

However, I'm confident he won't be going anywhere and he will be a Laker for this season.

[Andrew]

It wouldn't help his cause. On the surface it may appear to force the Lakers' hand and thus grant another team some leverage in putting forth a deal that isn't remotely fair but if Kobe holds out then it's going to cause would-be suitors some concern. After all, he's willing to do that to a team he's been a part of for over a decade, who's to say he'll do the right thing by his new team if he grows dissatisfied?

As immensely talented as Kobe Bryant is, I would think a training camp holdout combined with an opt-out clause in two years would make a lot of teams who might otherwise be interested in trading for him a little wary of breaking up their current core.

[Fresh8]

I agree it wouldn't help him one bit. It doesn't help the Lakers as it eliminates any type of trade leverage and for him, as you stated, it makes his reputation even worse.

In the end, Kobe seems loyal and also too competitive to not show up and try and 'force' a trade. Secondly, the Lakers would be stupid to trade one of the best players in the world away.

[Fresh8]

Lakers Sign Larry Turner

Anyone know who he is?

[[Q]]

ehh some big scrub who'll get cut in training camp.

[Bruce]

ehh some big scrub who'll get cut in training camp.

I think it would be more likely than coby karl would be cut, it is also possible a trade might be brewing, but I wouldn't count on it.

[Andrew]

Bryant is the star of stars

Amongst other things, the article suggests that Kobe still wants out but it would seem that the issue will be handled behind closed doors rather than through the media. I'd still be very surprised if Kobe didn't report to training camp or if the Lakers were even considering trading him at this point.

[dada]

Wow, I kinda missed this thread. Not the Kobe talk, just the thread.

[Fresh8]

dada, u gonna be sticking around then?

I just wanted to say I'm pretty optimistic with the Lakers team. I haven't given up on Kwame Brown yet. And Luke Walton proved me right that he was gonna have a good season last season.

I still remember me saying he was working hard on his three point shot and someone laughed at the comment. What did Walton do for the first two months of the season? Shoot pretty damn well from behind the arc. If only he coulda kept that kinda success rate up... injuries really raped the team last season.

With Chris Mihm back in the fold... same with a healthy Kwame, Lamar and the signing of D Fish (His addition will show mostly offcourt IMO), I can see us doing alright. If we get to a good start, I think we have potential to be a 4-6 seeded team. If it doesnt go our way, I can see us getting a 7 or 8 seed. But by all means, we may veen slip out of the whole playoff picture too.