Ugh.
I see why P keeps his mouth closed more often lately now.
Everything is stretched into something totally irrelevant.
No one ever said pay the 35 year old Kobe the Max as if he was 19...
All i said was the guy even at 35 will deserve far more than the VETERANS MINIMUM.
At 33 the guy still played like he's 26. Even when he comes back from the Achilles injury, we all damn well know the only thing different about Kobe will be his explosiveness. We all know he will find a way to score his 25 a game, and still shoot 45% from the field, and still will his team to wins if he has some help around him.
Thats not a vet minimum contribution...whether at the age of 34 or at the age of 64...anyone who can contribute that much isnt going to take a vet minimum contract whether we like it or not.
I never said give him a max. I just said there has to be a middle ground, a contract that pays him what he deserves for his age and contribution...still allowing us to go out there and be flexible and pursue Max Contract player(s). But its not going to be no DAMN VET MINIMUM...so stop saying it.
Would i love for him to take that? Sure. But cmon man...BE REALISTIC.
He isnt going to ask for a max contract...but he isnt going to take a vet minimum either.
The reason he says he wont take a pay cut is strictly for business purposes...but its OBVIOUS he is going to take far less money than he is making now.
He just has to allow himself a little wiggle room to still make a decent amount of money for the contribution hes going to make to the team.
Whether thats 6 million, 8 Million, 10 million, 12 million... its gonna have to be something in between there to both appease him and his agent...as well as give the Lakers a chance of pursuing elite players.
If Kobe takes a vet minimum contract, even at the age of 34/35, while hes still producing like hes 27... it messes up everything the players association works for. It messes up negotiations for many other players who are still producing but getting up in age. Then everyones expected to "Take one for the team" and sign a vet minimum contract so they can pursue younger, fresher players. The Players Association is NOT going to be cool with that. Not every one has a bankroll like Kobe Bryant. Others still need big contracts, even as they approach their 30s... if they deserve it, they gotta get paid. Kobe taking a vet min contract when hes not a vet min player might help the Lakers tremendously, but it screws with a lot of other players and their contract negotiations.
So you can say hes being selfish for not taking a 26 MILLION DOLLAR PAY CUT... but if he did, hed be selfish in the sense where hed mess things up for many of his colleagues as they try to get paid and feed their families.
There HAS to be a middle ground, a fair middle ground, which is why he said what he said.
Even if he takes a pay cut, negotiation tac tics still MUST BE USED.
It is a business guys.
This aint the damn YMCA basketball league.
You cant expect a player of Kobes caliber to take the same contract as Darren Collison whether hes 35 years old or whether hes 25 years old.
As long as he can produce better than 90% of the league, which he still will, he will have to be paid like it... or in this sense, close to it.
And before you go on me, of course id love him to take a cheap contract and help our franchise.
It would be great. Id love it.
But its not realistic.
There is a players association for a reason, its so situations like that dont mess things up for the rest of the league.
He'll take a pay cut.
Im sure of it.
He has to, he'll never make 30 mill in a season again obviously.
But it aint gonna be no dam 29 million dollar pay cut.
Nor should it be.
Hopefully he'll sign for about that range i said, 6-10 mill...and we'll still have a lotta flexibility to pursue our future studs.
