At age 36, 5 rings, over 50,000+ minutes played in the course of 19 seasons, two catastrophic injuries and you’ll find Kobe Bryant still hard at work, still hungry for another ring and still the highest paid player in basketball.
His contract is 2 years, $48.5 million, which infuriates most Lakers fans and boggles the mind of most NBA fans and analysts. The question is asked why a man at this stage of his career, is taking up a 1/3 of their salary cap, leaving the Lakers under manned and Kobe the lone star.
It’s easy to point the finger at Kobe and say things like “why would you take so much money” or “you’re not the same player, take the pay cut like Dirk and Duncan”. Clearly the people seeing it that way do not understand business and the mistakes the franchise made that put the Lakers in this situation.
This year, the Lakers are off to a terrible start but Staples Center is still packed and TV ratings are fine. The reason the Lakers are maintaining relevance is because of Kobe Bryant. Kobe is also the reason the Lakers received a $4 Billion TV deal and the reason Lakers made a $100 million in profit last season, which was the highest in the NBA. No other player, except for Lebron James has that type of impact. They are more than just players, they are their own brand.
Despite how you may feel of his ability on the court, so far he’s proving he’s still offensively elite and will only get better as the season progresses while all of his rhythm and timing are coming back.
The current roster formed leaves Kobe with little help but it is not the fault of cap space taken by his contract. Lakers made bad moves and missed on really good and really affordable free agents. Lakers still have a maximum contract spot available and they are choosing to wait for a star to use it on. Fans will just have to get used to the idea of the long process rebuild.
More efficient efforts for a rebuild could have been done, even with Kobe’s large contract. It’s really not the Kobe blame party but a far fetched plan that takes a lot patience from fans who are accustomed to a traditon of winning and glory.
So if you’re looking for a face to blame make sure you consider all the factors that play into the Lakers recent struggles rather than putting all the blame on one man.
Chris Rodriguez covers the Los Angeles Lakers – get in touch with him and see his latest posts by following him on Twitter at @C_RodSportsWiz.
