Phil Jackson's contract negotiations stopped! Kobe says "Who Cares!"..

[se7en]

If you haven't heard a big deal is being made about the Lakers being in complete termoil. Apparently it was reported yesterday that Phil Jackson backed out of contract negotiations. Sports talk radio guys are saying he is in "lame duck status" and losing the team.

I heard the sound bite that everyone is talking about today. A reporter asked Kobe after the game what he thought of the Zen Master's contract negotiations coming to a halt and his response was "Who cares! I don't care. All I care about is our team losing this game right now. Yada yada yada! That's not my concern..

It went something like that. The tone of his voice was also very negative I must say.

From this event I would gather that the Lakers as we know them will be non existent next year. There's already specualtion that Jackson is giving up on the team and the infighting and may say the hell with it and leave at the end of the season. And I heard an interesting point that Riley may be waiting in the wings to return to Los Angeles.

Everyone seems to think that Kobe is gone. Then you have Malone and Payton who have apparently soured on what is been going on with the team. Payton can opt out and Maone signed a one year deal so that he could look for other options this off season.

It's not looking good for the Lakers.

So if you could talk Phil Jackson into coming to the Suns by offering him Part ownership in the team and shared GM duties would you do it? Would he be good for this young team or has he truly just been lucky by having the best players on his teams?

Interesting stuff none the less.

On a humorous side note Jeanie Buss (Phils gal and president of Laker operations) was just on a radio show last week talking about how in love with Phil she is and was hoping he would give her a ring other than a championship ring.

Everyone was joking about how this would affect their relationship if she is one of the people responsible for these contract negotiations.

What a complicated funny mess.

Here is a link to the contract negotiations stalling. The other tid bits regarding Kobe and Jeanie Buss came from the radio today (which included actual sound bites from both of them).

http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news;_y...aA--?slug=ap-lakers-jackson&prov=ap&type=lgns

 

[elindholm]

The Lakers seem to need these soap operas to get themselves going. The Los Angeles media, trained on the tawdry world of Hollywood, have an insatiable appetite for it. My guess is that there's no more grumbling going on than you'd expect from a dream team that isn't winning.

Don't get me wrong -- I'd love nothing more than to see the Lakers fall flat on their faces, even though it would cost me $50 in a bet I made with Joe Mama. (Don't worry, I haven't forgotten!) But I just don't see it happening. Malone, Payton, and Bryant have too much pride, and O'Neal has been pacing himself all season so that he can turn it on in the playoffs.

 

[se7en]

Soap operas are one thing. But Kobe disrespecting the coach like this in the media and Phil's agent indicating that Phil would be willing to coach elsewhere is a far cry from petty bickering. I think what's going on right now is far worse than anything they've had to deal with over the last few years. And Shaq and Kobe may have tolerated each other in the past and pretended to play nice in the media but this year neither of them is expressing any such fondness for the other.

This is different. Maybe they'll rally around this. Maybe this a Zen Master Trick to distract media attention from the players. I don't know. But it doesn't look good on the surface.

 

[elindholm]

I haven't heard the Bryant quote, but is it really that disrespectful? If all he really said was, "My coach's contract negotiations aren't my problem, all I care about is breaking this losing streak," that doesn't seem too bad to me. Like I say, I haven't heard it, but from your description it does sound like the kind of thing that could be manipulated out of context to sound a lot worse than it is.

 

[se7en]

I heard the quote from Kobe's mouth. Yes there were some remarks that were more along the lines of what you said. But then he did repeat the words "Who Cares" a couple of times at the beginning and end of the brief conversation in a very disrespectful tone. Hopefully you'll get a chance to hear it. You may be right. But I didn't get a good feeling from it.

 

[Chaplin]

Originally posted by elindholm
...but from your description it does sound like the kind of thing that could be manipulated out of context to sound a lot worse than it is.

DEFINITELY in L.A.

 

[Errntknght]

Phil is the very last guy that JC would chose to coach the Suns - Phil would get all the credit if the team became a power in the league so what's in it for JC's ego?

I'd gladly take PJ as the coach - pending an inquiry into his and Tex Winter's health and their desire to continue on for three plus years.

 

[Joe Mama]

Originally posted by elindholm
The Lakers seem to need these soap operas to get themselves going. The Los Angeles media, trained on the tawdry world of Hollywood, have an insatiable appetite for it. My guess is that there's no more grumbling going on than you'd expect from a dream team that isn't winning.

Don't get me wrong -- I'd love nothing more than to see the Lakers fall flat on their faces, even though it would cost me $50 in a bet I made with Joe Mama. (Don't worry, I haven't forgotten!) But I just don't see it happening. Malone, Payton, and Bryant have too much pride, and O'Neal has been pacing himself all season so that he can turn it on in the playoffs.

I'm glad you reminded me of that bet. I had totally forgotten about it. In fact I'm not sure I remember exactly what the bet was even now. Was it just whether the Lakers would win the championship?

I do agree with you, Eric, regarding the Lakers. It's like the boy who cried wolf. A couple of seasons ago I bought into all of this fighting and bickering hoping that they would fall apart. Now I'm convinced they just need some trauma to make it through the season.

I said before the season started that I thought Karl Malone's presence on the Lakers was going to make them the best team in the NBA game. Before his injury they were. If he comes back even a couple of weeks before the playoffs with a relatively healthy Shaquille O'Neal and even just one of the All-Star guards I would consider them the odds-on favorite to win the championship.

Now about Kobe Bryant... it sure sounds like he is going to leave the LA Lakers this summer. I said about a month ago that I did not believe he would leave, mostly because of his trial and how it would impact his free agency. I'm changing my stance. I do believe he will leave the Lakers, and I still think the Clippers have the best shot at him.

I know better than to put much stock into what the "experts" say, but yesterday on "Around the Horn" every one on the panel said without hesitation that he would leave the Lakers this summer.

Joe Mama

 

[Chaz]

I've heard the talk radio people in LA before and it seems to me they love to stir stuff up to talk about. Is this really even a story? I don't think so. Kobe disrespected the coach? I don't think so. Why should Kobe care about Phil's contract? And why would he talk about it to the LA media?

If I was Kobe and some ******* reporter was grilling me on the coaches contract status I might not sound to happy either.

Don't get your hopes up Laker bashers. It is just another episode of As the Lakers Turn.

I mean who the F*^&% cares about the Lakers but their fans, the LA media, and the Lakers themselves? I know I don't.

 

[F-Dog]

It turned out that Karl Malone blew out his knee, didn't it? It's hard for me to believe that he'll be back at anything close to 100% for the playoffs.

Plus, it looks like the Lakers' perimeter defense is even worse than last year, when it was the team's achilles' heel.


I agree, though, that the speculation and theatrics this year probably won't have any impact on the team whatsoever.

 

[Brian in Mesa]

Does Kobe's attitude really surprise any of you?

He is a selfish arrogant prick (that's about the extent of my "bad language" or I'd call him something else).

He puts himself before the team, he puts himself before everything, even his wife.

I can't wait for the day he is no longer a Laker, even though it will hurt the chances of another title in the near future.

BIM

P.S. Nice signature, Chap.