trubucksfan wrote:this post just got me thinking. It's kinda crazy what Kobe has done to the lakers organization. most teams in the league are trying to add talent to become a better team. everyone in the league would kill to have someone of shaqs talent to play alongside them. instead they are building down to make the lakers "kobes team" idk it just seems a little backwards to me.
I'm almost afraid to respond to this because the subject has become so redundant, honestly. You're definitely not trying to attack anyone trubucksfan with this post, you're just thinking out loud. Just read the following points and give me some feedback.
- Dr. Jerry Buss our owner was interviewed on Sportscenter and said plain and simple that he was ready for a change. He wanted the team to return to an eighties style of ball where we'd get up and down the floor, etc. etc. We weren't going to do that with either Shaq or Phil around.
- Jerry Buss and Shaq had their own issues, mainly about money and how Shaq went about handling his business. Buss refused to give Shaq the max extension based on his age, work ethic and propensity to miss games because of injuries.
- Buss wanted to keep Shaq but not at the price tag that Shaq and his agent Leonard Armato were seeking, Shaq got upset about this and yelled at Buss who was seated courtside,
"Now you gonna pay me motherfucka?!?" after a monster dunk in a preseason contest last year in Hawaii. That pretty much spelled the beginning of the end for their relationship.
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Shaq was without a doubt our best player every single year he was a Los Angeles Laker. I just wanted to get that out there to make cats understand that I'm not a Kobe fan who thinks he was just some "overrated fat guy who dunks all the time." I fully understand that basketball is a big man's game, and we had one of the greatest of all time.
- This notion that "you don't trade Shaq!" kills me, I mean it murders me.
Kareem was traded and so was Wilt Chamberlain, what makes Shaq any different? Any good owner is always about the bottom line, and bottom line Jerry didn't want to mortgage the future and pay Shaq astronomical sums of money until he was 39 years old.
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Kobe is an arrogant jerk, I know this. But unfortunately, so were Shaq and Phil, they were ALL to blame for the demise of the dynasty in some regard.
- Shaquille demanded the trade, people seem to forget that fact. Even going as far as to provide a list of acceptable destinations.
- Personality wise, Shaq is a much better guy than Kobe. Much more gregarious, fun loving, sociable and inclusive. Once again, I'm a realist and not an apologist.
- Kobe is a lot of things but what he isn't is powerful enough to control an owner who was winning five championships when Kobe was playing with Transformers and G.I. Joe. His decision was made independent of Kobe but because his plan included Kobe, it makes Kobe look like the bad guy.
- Of course Kobe rather not play with Shaq, much like Shaq preferred not playing with Kobe. Even actively seeking deals on his own to get rid of him. Little known fact: Shaq attempted to push management to trade him in the '99 season for
Penny Hardaway. 
His reasoning? We'll never win any championships with Kobe Bryant on this team.
Neither party wanted to play with the other, point blank. So why is it so bad on Kobe's end and not Shaq's? Had Kobe been traded to Miami instead of Shaq would their be the same level of outrage? Of course not, he's Osama Bean Bryant.
I have a lot more points but i'll let those marinate for a minute before wieighing in with more. I fully expect to be bombarded with ESPN influenced cliches that side with Shaq no matter what, I can handle it.
