Dispelling the Myth that Kobe had to accept the large contract offer.

[VIntageNOvel]

and 24 mills isnot your average joe random number,

joe johnson getting 23,2 mills next year, kobe will get 23,5 mills,
Joe johnson getting 24,8 mills the year after, kobe will get 25 mills,

as you can see, the FO make sure kobe become the highest paid player , even by a thin thread

its not about money, its about sending a message to other superstars,
that lakers take care of their franchise player even though they are in decline/injured

[blablabla]

then why were/are so many people angry at lebron leaving cleveland?
Going by your logic, anyone who hates lebron for leaving the cavs is a manchild.

Well they missed out on a good story, the kid from cleveland bringing a championship to his hometown, also the manner he announced it in wasn't very tasteful
but in the end like i said it's the best decision he could have made in that summer, he won 2 championships, he's playing with his long time friends living in fvcking miami and earning tons of money, i fully understand him and any rational thinking cavs fan should too

[longtime lurker]

I'll be sure to bump this thread when Lebron doesn't resign for a min contract because he wants to "win"

[chazzy]

Since when does being offered something mean you throw common sense out of the window? Does someone tie you up and handcuff you when you are offered something? If your goal is to win championships, and you want to win so badly, and all you have left is 2 seasons AT BEST in your old injured legs, I would play for $1 if it meant I could win 2 more rings and Finals MVP's before my career is done. You know it and I know it.

Here's examples using only Heat players.

In 2005, Shaq turned down bigger contract to help Miami win. Shaq turned it down and accepted $20mil/yr and told Pat to use the extra $$$ to get help to win. Pat Riley actually already offered Shaq a bigger contract, and Shaq TURNED IT DOWN. So this "not if they offer you it" is a cop out excuse for KoMe Bryant.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=2122716

"He'll make $20 million in each of the next five seasons in an agreement believed to include incentives. He was to have earned $30.6 million this coming season, but opted out of that deal for a longer-term pact with less money annually."

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I'll just stick with the Miami Heat and show another player who turned down more money for winning.

Dwyane Wade. He gave up millions and convinced LBJ and Bosh to also, so that the Heat could sign more help. D-Wade is actually making less money than both LBJ and Bosh right now, due to this.

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And how about Udonis Haslem, also a Heat player. He turned down giant contracts SEVERAL times now. In 2005, he turned down the Mavericks large contract offer to stay with Miami and win more rings. And he did it again in 2010.

"At the end of the day, everybody makes a pretty decent check playing this game — but everybody doesn't win a championship," Haslem said.

http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/sport...contract_x.htm

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The key difference between all of these situations and Kobe's is that these players were already in great situations in which they were guaranteed to have success. Why give up 10s of millions because they Lakers MIGHT sign someone other than a max contract? Anyway, if I'm the Lakers I don't even try to get a max contract this summer. No amount of FA moves this off season would put them in championship contention, and an extra $5-$10M in wiggle room wouldn't have changed that.

[joeyjoejoe]

He could have took less. He's at the end of his career, coming off a major injury, and probably has more money than any other player in the league. If they can't put a decent team around him because of his huge salary, he shouldn't complain.

Well said

[Akrazotile]

its not about money, its about sending a message to other superstars,
that lakers take care of their franchise player even though they are in decline/injured

Now youre just being corny.

[Akrazotile]

I'll be sure to bump this thread when Lebron doesn't resign for a min contract because he wants to "win"

The difference is Lebron is the best player in the game and you can build a winning team around him WHILE paying him the max.

The talent required to help Kobe at this point is virtually impossible to acquire when you commit that much salary to a washed up chucker who is the worst defensive player at his position in the game.

[VIntageNOvel]

He could have took less. He's at the end of his career, coming off a major injury, and probably has more money than any other player in the league. If they can't put a decent team around him because of his huge salary, he shouldn't complain.

they still can put decent team around him, amnesty nash, and you can still get max player, and still have more than enough, in the era where decent player taking paycut like this (and those amnestied player like granger etc), building a stacked team with nearly 40 mills salary should not be too far fetched as long as they dont do something dumb like joe johnson/smoove

and i think kobe would still sign it even if the FO offer him 17-18 mills a year

[NoGunzJustSkillz]

You're beating a dead horse, let it go OP.

these clowns will be gone by July.

[NoGunzJustSkillz]

they still can put decent team around him, amnesty nash, and you can still get max player, and still have more than enough, in the era where decent player taking paycut like this (and those amnestied player like granger etc), building a stacked team with nearly 40 mills salary should not be too far fetched as long as they dont do something dumb like joe johnson/smoove

and i think kobe would still sign it even if the FO offer him 17-18 mills a year

u can't amnesty nash. only players that signed their contracts before the "new" cba.

[IMObjective]

No, I would not.

If I am 36 yr old Kobe Bryant, with injured knees and only have 2 years left on my career, I will play for $1 if the NBA allowed me to, and I would want 2 more rings before I retire to have 7 rings and go out in a blaze of glory.

KoMe is just selfish. Always has been.

Sounds like you're greedy about glory like how Kobe is about money. Kobe's had more glory and more money than anyone needs in a lifetime already, he went with more money at the end, which leads to the possibility of even more glory if he manages to actually win compared to winning by taking a paycut. You know Kobe still thinks he's the best and still has the ability to lead a team to the championship. You might think he's delusional, but he truly believes in himself. It's not about the money, it's about the glory.

its not about money, its about sending a message to other superstars,
that lakers take care of their franchise player even though they are in decline/injured

good point, might sound corny but this was probably one of reasons for the huge number. Kobe also wants to send out a message to the other superstars. He doesn't care if people think he's delusional.

[longtime lurker]

The difference is Lebron is the best player in the game and you can build a winning team around him WHILE paying him the max.

The talent required to help Kobe at this point is virtually impossible to acquire when you commit that much salary to a washed up chucker who is the worst defensive player at his position in the game.

your troll act is getting stale starface

Lebron currently has more help than any player in the NBA. The Heat make it look easy only because all 3 superstars took pay cuts to join together, the Heat are the exception not the norm.

The Lakers made their offer with cap and building a great team in mind while still taking care of me as a player.

It's as simple as the quote posted above. The Lakers made an offer while still believing they could build a competitive team within the cap. No reason to take a pay cut, if the Lakers didn't think they could build a competitive team then they shouldn't have offered the contract

[IMObjective]

these clowns will be gone by July.

[Real Men Wear Green]

They could have offered less and held their ground.

Sure. But they didn't. The end.

[AnaheimLakers24]