Jeanie Buss Defends Kobe Bryant Against ESPN Article
Lakers president Jeanie Buss is tired of the recent criticisms of Kobe Bryant.
ESPN ranked Bryant 40th on their NBA player ranking, but adding to that was this week’s ESPN Magazine feature from Henry Abbott in which he openly speculated that the Lakers have been unable to attract top tier players in free agency because they don’t want to play with Kobe Bryant.
Buss was adamant and open about her reaction to Abbott’s article in an interview with ESPN on Thursday:
I read the story. I don’t agree with any of it. If there is somebody that’s on our payroll who is saying things like that, I’ll soon get to the bottom of it, and they won’t be working for us anymore.
Any free agent that would be afraid to play with Kobe Bryant is probably a loser, and I’m glad they wouldn’t come to the team.
We made a very good case for [Carmelo] coming to Los Angeles. But he’s from New York, he sees a mission. I understand why he chose to stay with New York. I don’t think any of that has to do with Kobe Bryant.
So she let Carmelo Anthony off the hook, but what a way for your boss to talk about you if you’re Kobe Bryant. It’s also about protecting and believing in your investment. Bryant’s two-year, $48.5 million extension has been another popular criticism that he would be unwilling to take less money in order to attract more talent to Los Angeles.
At 36, Bryant is on his own individual mission to simply show he can still dominate the game after playing just six games last season because of injuries. Buss is an absolute believer,
I have no doubt that Kobe will make people regret ever saying those comments.
Though it might be easy to believe in Kobe’s individual will, the Lakers collectively show no signs of reaching glory again in Bryant’s career. No matter the reason, if none of these free agents are truly interested in playing for the Lakers and with Kobe, his last years in Los Angeles will be losing ones.
