You're full of crap and you need to find another team to post about. You are borderline trolling at this point.
Shaq did not leave because of Kobe. Shaq was traded because he wanted $30 million and the Lakers wanted to pay him $20 million. The final straw came in a pre-season game when Shaq dunked and the screamed "You gonna pay me now?" At that point, he was gone.
Trojan, I never even discussed Shaq's departure in this thread. I merely indicated that by that timeframe, Kobe had tremendous influence on the team direction....................in comparison to complaints that Lebron holds that effect now and some are slamming him for it.
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Guess you should quit trolling then, huh?
Kobe doesn't and has never had the kind of decision making power that Lebron has. If Kobe did, Mike Brown wouldn't have replaced Phil, Brian Shaw would have. D'Antoni never would have replaced Mike Brown, Phil would have and Byron Scott would already have been named coach.
If Shaq had that kind of power when he was a Laker, he'd still be a Laker because they'd have paid him his $30 million.
Even MWP coming to the Lakers wasn't because Kobe wanted him. It was because the Lakers knew that they would likely see the Celtics in the finals and the Celtics had physically kicked their asses in 2008. MWP was brought in as an answer to that. Kobe was only consulted to make sure he didn't have an issue playing on the same team as MWP.
The Lakers have always listened to their star players, but have never afforded them the kind of power that Lebron wields in Cleveland. Just like every other star player they've had, that player gets input, but they are not the final decision maker.
Lebron appears to be telling the Cavs who he wants (again) and has set himself up so that the Cavs basically have to do it. His 2 year deal may be about the CBA and him no longer being willing to accept anything but a max deal, but the 1 year opt out is about pressuring the Cavs. If folks think Lebron isn't above using that leverage, they haven't been paying attention.
I'm sure Paul Pierce and KG were consulted by Ainge re: moves that he made while they were there. Doesn't mean they were the decision makers though. There's a difference between allowing a star player to have input and handing them the keys to the franchise.
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