Bryant rebuffs rumors
that he's leaving Lakers
However, star says he'll still test
free agency at season's end
Nam Y Huh / APLos Angeles Lakers guard Kobe Bryant has said he will become a free agent after the season.
updated 3:59 p.m. ET Feb. 14, 2004
LOS ANGELES - Kobe Bryant insisted Friday that he wants to be a Laker “for life,” though he still plans to opt out of his contract and become a free agent this summer.
Responding to a report that he has already made it clear to the Lakers that he plans to leave, Bryant said the story was untrue.
“I want to be a Laker for the rest of my life. That hasn’t changed,” said Bryant, who has been with Los Angeles throughout his eight-year NBA career. “I’ve been a Laker fan since I was 6, and it’s been a dream come true for me to play for the Lakers.”
Bryant, speaking with reporters for about 30 minutes at an All-Star media availability session, is scheduled to go on trial over the summer on a sexual assault charge — an allegation he would not address Friday.
Bryant said he plans to opt out of his contract to experience what it would be like to be courted as a free agent.
The guard said he has kept in regular contact with general manager Mitch Kupchak, who faces the prospect of losing Bryant with nothing in return if the 25-year-old superstar decides to leave.
When it was pointed out that someone who wants to be a Laker for life should have no need to test free agency, Bryant stuck to his theme.
“It’s just about exploring options. That doesn’t mean I want to go somewhere else,” Bryant said. “I’m not going to sit here and speculate and think too far in advance. I’m going to take my time and really think about this decision.”
A report in the Los Angeles Daily News quoted four anonymous NBA sources, including three within the Lakers organization, as saying Bryant has been “boasting” his intention to leave to people within the organization.
"He is absolutely going to leave. Everybody knows it," the Daily News quoted a league source with close Laker contact as saying.
And, despite the 25-year-old guard's earlier statements that he wants to re-sign with the Lakers, the Daily News cited sources as saying that Bryant is becoming more open about his intentions to leave. The Daily News cited four sources, three within the Lakers organization, that the star has told teammates and coaches that he will depart the Lakers.
"There's no way he's coming back. He's saying that more and more," the Daily News quoted a team source with regular contact with the star as saying.
“I’ve spoken to him recently, and he said he has not made his mind up, and if he did he’d tell me — and he has not told me,” Kupchak told The Associated Press.
The NBA trading deadline is Thursday.
“Kobe’s not going anywhere,” Kupchak added.
Friday’s developments in the Bryant saga added another layer of drama to the ever-changing dynamics surrounding the Lakers, whose season began with Bryant blasting teammate Shaquille O’Neal for being “fat and out of shape,” deriding his leadership skills and accusing him of exaggerating injuries.
Bryant concluded those preseason comments by saying if he does leave the Lakers, “a major reason for that will be Shaq’s childlike selfishness and jealousy.”
The two Lakers superstars entered a hotel ballroom at the same time Friday afternoon and did not acknowledge each other as they passed. O’Neal, whose relationship with Bryant has been rocky over the course of their time together in Los Angeles, said Bryant has not told him of his intentions.
“Do I want him to stay? Kobe is a grown man and he has to do what’s best for him,” O’Neal said. “Once that day happens, we just have to be readjust.”
Several Lakers have been displeased with Bryant over the past few seasons for freelancing within the team’s offense and failing to follow the instructions of coach Phil Jackson.
The Lakers recently broke off negotiations for a contract extension with Jackson, meaning he, too, could be a free agent at the conclusion of this season.
Los Angeles got off to an 18-3 start, largely quieting the talk of the Bryant-Malone feud and how the rape allegation against Bryant in Colorado might affect the team.
But a series of injuries, including Karl Malone’s torn knee ligament, led to a two-month descent into mediocrity. The Lakers went into the All-Star break with a 31-19 record, only good enough for fifth place in the competitive Western Conference.
Jackson has publicly chided Bryant for not being a coachable player in a system designed with O’Neal as the team’s focal point.
“Our relationship has always been kind of dicey, but we’ve managed to be successful throughout the process,” Bryant said. “It’s always been kind of a push and pull type of relationship with me and Phil because he knows I like to challenge everything, and he challenges everything.
“If he says run this, that and the other, I’m going to say ’Why?’ and ’How does that work’ and ’This is what I think.’ That’s because I want to learn. Our relationship has always been that way, but it’s been successful. I don’t see why that should change.”
Even before the Daily News report, speculation was rampant in Los Angeles that Bryant will leave in the summer — perhaps to join the Los Angeles Clippers, one of the few teams that might have enough salary cap space to offer Bryant a maximum contract.
Bryant can sign a seven-year deal with the Lakers for $141 million, while the most any other team could offer is six years and $98 million. There could, however, be a sign-and-trade deal in which Bryant would get his max contract and then be dealt immediately.
But all those scenarios are too far in the future to be addressed by Bryant, who claims he is not thinking about anything beyond this season.
Asked what he would do if he was in Kupchak’s shoes and was faced with the prospect of losing one of his key players, Bryant said: “You have to factor in this season, this past summer.
“You bring in key acquisitions in (Gary) Payton and Malone, you have the Diesel, you have me, you know I want to be a Laker for the rest of my life, and I told you that I’m not going to think about anything as far as free agency until the end of the season.
“So what I would do is keep the team intact and try to win a championship this year because that’s what we set out to do,” Bryant said. “Then we’ll deal with the summer as it comes.”
© 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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