Kobe Bryant doesn’t handle rejection well.
That, or he handles it really well.
It depends how you look at it.
Someone asked Kobe about Kevin Love being traded to Cleveland Cavaliers, presumably mentioning the many ties to the Los Angeles Lakers he had via the ever-churning rumor mill last season. Kobe responded in kind.
Per the Los Angeles Daily News’ Mark Medina (h/t Bleacher Report):
Kobe asked about Kevin Love deal to Cleveland. Called it"good trade." Then sarcastically said "no" when asked if he wanted him here
— Mark Medina (@MarkG_Medina) October 1, 2014
Buuuuuurn. That’ll teach Love to pursue a situation in which he’s pitted alongside the greatest player in the world, LeBron James, and one of the NBA’s brightest young point guards, Kyrie Irving.
Actually, no it won’t.
Kobe was clearly joking, though there’s probably some part of him that views Love okaying the Cavaliers deal—which he had to do in a way, since it’s unlikely Cleveland would have dealt for him without the assurance he would stay beyond next season—as a form of treachery.
If not for the Cavaliers, who knows, maybe Love to the Lakers would feel just as inevitable as it did eight to 12 months ago. That’s an underrated aspect of this whole thing. The Lakers are going to have cap space next summer when Love’s a free agent. Any other team he was traded to—be it the Chicago Bulls, Boston Celtics, Golden State Warriors, Phoenix Suns or Denver Nuggets—wouldn’t have been locks to retain him. Maybe the Warriors, but that’s about it.
Such is the pull LeBron has on his fellow NBA superstars. Who would leave him? He’s already stated he plans on retiring in Cleveland. Probably means it this time, too. The Cavaliers would have to play host to a complete crap fest next season for there to even be a chance that Love leaves. I’m talking absolute letdown and implosion, stuff we haven’t seen since some smuck decided taking Gigli to production was a good idea.
Now, in the interest of full disclosure, I’ve said differently. One of the reasons I was against the Cavaliers shipping out Andrew Wiggins was the lack of security Love’s arrival promised. But then reports started to surface that he planned to sign an extension, so that’s my justification behind this acceptance.
Not that it matters, since this isn’t the point. The point is, the Lakers would still be in play for Love—in free agency, not by way of trade, since their best assets are Jeremy Lin’s expiring pact, Julius Randle and the first-rounder they received from the Houston Rockets for absorbing Lin’s salary. Instead, they’re left to figure out another contingency plan (that can no longer include Eric Bledsoe). Perhaps some of the Lakers—like Bryant—are aware of this and, out of misplaced anger, don’t want to play with Love now…because they can’t. Or maybe this was all just what it seems to be, a joke.
Either way, give Kobe the opportunity—the actual opportunity–to play alongside Love and, whether joking or serious about what he just said, it’s likely he sings a different tune.
Dan Favale is a firm believer in the three-pointer as well as the notion that defense doesn’t always win championships. His musings can be found at Bleacherreport.com in addition to TheHoopDoctors.com.
