Truth About Howard Leaving Lakers

[anotheridiot]

Steve Nash and Kobe made their pitches to Howard. More than one report has said that D'Antoni was there and didnt bother to make any comments at all. Howard just wanted a coach that might consider running some plays thru the post. D'antoni is run and gun and defense is secondar. Howard would have been miserable in LA just because of the coach. You gotta realize what the Lakers did to Phil Jackson, called him late one evening, all he said is I am gonna think about it, next day D'Antoni was hired. Thats how the spoiled brat kid Buss is gonna run the lakers. You either cream in your pants at the opportunity of being part of the organization or they dont want you there.

I give Howard tons of credit for leaving 30 million on the table and playing in an organization with McHale and Akeem Olajuwan. There is pretty much no doubt that D'Antoni is not the right coach for an aging team of superstars. Maybe they will be a better team without superstars.

 

[lakersrule]

Why would any perimeter player in their prime want to play with him? Maybe a big man but no way would a Harden, LBJ, Melo, or KD would like to play with a guy like him with the way he act about being the main on the team

Apparently not a big man either! I'm not going to sit here and profess to know what goes on in people's heads. We'll see what happens in those upcoming summers. For the record, I don't think LBJ or Melo are coming to the Lakers either.

 

[Lakers+USC=#1]

Why would any perimeter player in their prime want to play with him? Maybe a big man but no way would a Harden, LBJ, Melo, or KD would like to play with a guy like him with the way he act about being the main on the team

Why would any perimeter player in their prime go play with Jordan in the 90's? Newsflash bk, what Lebron and Wade did was rare.

 

[lakersrule]

I'm not a accountant or tax expert, but there are certain taxes (income taxes, SSI, payroll taxes) that employees and employers have to pay right? That's why a big deal is made of playing in states that lack a state income tax. So you are telling me that a NBA player can skirt these basic taxes by forming themselves as a business entity?

 

[Jims_Doors]

You guys kill me. Why in the hell would Kobe take a robin role, if he is still batman? Lebron is the only player that can come to LA and probable take over that 1st option. If a star want to come over and be batman, then he will have to take it from Kobe. They might automatically get that role anyway because Kobe might not be the same player anyway after this injury. Do yall think Magic went up to Kareem and said, "Hi, can you sit back and let me be batman?" No, magic proved it on the court. You think Shaq was going to take a seat to Kobe? Hell fucking naw! Maybe im oldschool and go by tradition . Yall want it to be easy for superstars now days.

Another funny thing about this thread, is people using Phil comments describing a young Kobe, like they still apply today.

And the dumbest thing I heard, was Bk saying Kobe care about stats and not championships. When have kobe ever cared about stats? Stats are things Lebron care about. Do you know how bad Kobe want that 6 ring?

It's absurd to think Kobe doesn't care about stats right now. He's on the last leg of his career. It's been widely known for a while that one of his goals is to surpass MJ on the all-time scoring list. In order for him do so he can't be relegated to a 14-15FGA player. He needs to stay at 20+ while shooting a good %.

If/when he comes back next season, stays healthy and see's that LA has no realistic shot at being a championship team, then you're probably going to see Kobe of old (between Shaq and Gasol) where he was jacking up 25-27 FGA per game to score as much as possible. That's another reason why Dwight probably didn't stay. He knows what Kobe's goals are....championship / passing MJ on scoring list.

This is from July 1st of this year

LOS ANGELES -- Phil Jackson isn’t quite sure when Kobe Bryant will return to the court next season, but he’s convinced Bryant won’t leave the hardwood for good until he at least ties Michael Jordan’s six titles and surpasses Jordan on the all-time scoring list.

“His goal is another championship,” Jackson said Thursday. “He also has a chance to replace Michael Jordan in the all-time scoring list. Those are two goals, with the first one being a championship, that Kobe would like to accomplish.”

Bryant, who has five titles to Jordan's six, is fourth on the NBA's all-time scoring list with 31,617 points, behind Jordan's 32,292.

 

[OutlawImmortal]

Why would any perimeter player in their prime go play with Jordan in the 90's? Newsflash bk, what Lebron and Wade did was rare.

So rare that Stern had to veto the CP3 trade because the Lakers were going to be too good.

 

[lakersrule]

Steve Nash and Kobe made their pitches to Howard. More than one report has said that D'Antoni was there and didnt bother to make any comments at all. Howard just wanted a coach that might consider running some plays thru the post. D'antoni is run and gun and defense is secondar. Howard would have been miserable in LA just because of the coach. You gotta realize what the Lakers did to Phil Jackson, called him late one evening, all he said is I am gonna think about it, next day D'Antoni was hired. Thats how the spoiled brat kid Buss is gonna run the lakers. You either cream in your pants at the opportunity of being part of the organization or they dont want you there.

I give Howard tons of credit for leaving 30 million on the table and playing in an organization with McHale and Akeem Olajuwan. There is pretty much no doubt that D'Antoni is not the right coach for an aging team of superstars. Maybe they will be a better team without superstars.

Howard did get post touches. 45.2% of his plays were post ups. This was certainly less than Orlando, but it wasn't as absent as people believe. His PnR and basket roll percentages were higher compared with Orlando. The thing is, he's better as the roll man in the PnR than he is in the post. His post game needs a lot of work.

Houston is a big PnR team and have a 2 guard who likes to dominant the ball. I agree that McHale will utilize him better than MDA, but to what extent does he want to change up an offense that was very effective last season? Dwight better be ready to run lots of PnR with Harden.

 

[Lakers+USC=#1]

Magic had the ball in his hands so he didnt need to ask Kareem anything and proved himself just doing his job. Shaq was indisputably the man, would have kicked Kobes ass, and had Phil and the org backing him. Howard is coming into a situation where he is told he is the man or soon to be and things are not set up that way in reality. I get what you are saying about proving yourself on the court but you do need to have an environment geared to success.

Phils comments captured everything that influences Kobes decision making to this day. I'd say they still apply. The only people that appear to want to follow Kobe are tier 2 players and lower or Beta dogs.

The evidence is right there if Kobe chooses to pursue the money over a chance at another ring. I will wait to see which way he goes to formulate my final thoughts.

And out of Kobe and Howard, Kobe is no question the man.

And Phil will disagree with you about Kobe now.

I also want to know, what evidence you have that only tier 2 players and not 1 tier players want to play with Kobe. When was the last time the Lakers even had the cap space to sign a 1 tier player?

 

[lakersrule]

It's absurd to think Kobe doesn't care about stats right now. He's on the last leg of his career. It's been widely known for a while that one of his goals is to surpass MJ on the all-time scoring list. In order for him do so he can't be relegated to a 14-15FGA player. He needs to stay at 20+ while shooting a good %.

If/when he comes back next season, stays healthy and see's that LA has no realistic shot at being a championship team, then you're probably going to see Kobe of old (between Shaq and Gasol) where he was jacking up 25-27 FGA per game to score as much as possible. That's another reason why Dwight probably didn't stay. He knows what Kobe's goals are....championship / passing MJ on scoring list.

This is from July 1st of this year

LOS ANGELES -- Phil Jackson isn’t quite sure when Kobe Bryant will return to the court next season, but he’s convinced Bryant won’t leave the hardwood for good until he at least ties Michael Jordan’s six titles and surpasses Jordan on the all-time scoring list.

“His goal is another championship,” Jackson said Thursday. “He also has a chance to replace Michael Jordan in the all-time scoring list. Those are two goals, with the first one being a championship, that Kobe would like to accomplish.”

Bryant, who has five titles to Jordan's six, is fourth on the NBA's all-time scoring list with 31,617 points, behind Jordan's 32,292.

I think Kobe cares about championships and stats. I weigh championships higher though. So does Phil.

Dwight left because Kobe's goal is to win another championship? Doesn't Dwight want to win championships?

 

[Kold]

THIS from rotoworld- "Kobe Bryant said he doesn't expect to have any problems negotiating a contract extension and plans to retire as a Laker."

 

[bksballer89]

THIS from rotoworld- "Kobe Bryant said he doesn't expect to have any problems negotiating a contract extension and plans to retire as a Laker."

This means absolutely nothing right down. If the Lakers tell Kobe next yr we will sign you to a 2 yr deal for 27 mill, I'm pretty sure he would have a problem now.

 

[Kold]

It's all posturing. It is my opinion that they meet somewhere in the middle on these negotiations

 

[bksballer89]

Apparently not a big man either! I'm not going to sit here and profess to know what goes on in people's heads. We'll see what happens in those upcoming summers. For the record, I don't think LBJ or Melo are coming to the Lakers either.

Neither do I.

 

[Jims_Doors]

In order for that to happen, Kobe has to realize that he has to take a somewhat lesser role. He doesn't want to do that though because of days going back to Shaq. He wants it to be clear cut that he is the number one option and is the high scorer for most of those games.

The last thing he wants is to be known as Robin again, especially on a title team.

 

[bksballer89]

Why would any perimeter player in their prime go play with Jordan in the 90's? Newsflash bk, what Lebron and Wade did was rare.

What position did Pippen play? PF or C since he's clearly not a perimeter player right lol

 

[Kold]

This means absolutely nothing right down. If the Lakers tell Kobe next yr we will sign you to a 2 yr deal for 27 mill, I'm pretty sure he would have a problem now.

But it means something when he says he doesn't want to take a paycut? That news couldn't even come out fast enough before you guys caught a hold of that. Imo, this is strictly posturing or negotiating, or whatever you'd like to call it. My opinion is that they'll come to an agreement on a lesser contract next summer.

 

[Kold]

I'll just put it like this, if Kobe says I want 30 mil. or else, front office will walk out on him for the very first time. He hasn't said that, nor do I expect him to do so

 

[shitsho]

I'm not a accountant or tax expert, but there are certain taxes (income taxes, SSI, payroll taxes) that employees and employers have to pay right? That's why a big deal is made of playing in states that lack a state income tax. So you are telling me that a NBA player can skirt these basic taxes by forming themselves as a business entity?

Yes. Especially with a business you can basically get it to the point where you have 0 tax liability. People with money operate by different rules. People touting the tax vs no tax are either deliberately deceiving people or they really just don't know.

 

[Kold]

and another tidbit from that article- That said, Kobe seemed to backtrack Thursday, noting it was difficult to say what salary he would command because there have been no talks to this point.
That's understandable. That's why I said, I'll believe he won't take any paycut at all if he says it in 2014, when they make their pitch as to why he should do so.

 

[shitsho]

And out of Kobe and Howard, Kobe is no question the man.

And Phil will disagree with you about Kobe now.

I also want to know, what evidence you have that only tier 2 players and not 1 tier players want to play with Kobe. When was the last time the Lakers even had the cap space to sign a 1 tier player?

I think the whole point was that Howard was supposed to takeover being the man. Everyone knows Kobes the man. Thats why Howard left. Kobe wont give it up and Howard doesn't play pg.

I would disagree with me too if i was getting married to Jeanie. Unfortunately the things he remarked on are still in evidence today with Kobe.

What evidence do you have that other top tier stars want to play with him?