Lakers Demise

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Phil Jackson steps down
Kobe opted out of his contract; free agent after July 1st.
Shaq wants to be traded.

ESPN reports:

“Phil Jackson is stepping down as coach of the Los Angeles Lakers. Jackson, one of the most successful coaches in NBA history, won’t return to lead the Lakers next season.”

"Coach Phil Jackson might not be the only one leaving the Los Angeles Lakers.

The team’s two biggest stars, Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant, looked Friday as if they could be playing elsewhere next season.

O’Neal had requested a trade, ESPN.com’s Marc Stein has learned. And as expected, Bryant became an unrestricted free agent, opting out of his contract.

Jackson, who won three straight championships with the team, agreed with Lakers owner Jerry Buss to end his tenure as coach, the team said in a statement.

Jackson’s departure was expected even before he met with Buss after the coach’s participation in season-ending interviews with several players earlier in the day.

There could be several less-expected changes to follow.

Karl Malone has already opted out of his contract, although he hopes to play for the Lakers if healthy. Gary Payton and Derek Fisher could follow Bryant and Malone and opt out of their deals.

General manager Mitch Kupchak made clear the team’s priorities Thursday when he said the Lakers would do anything they need to keep Bryant and would try to accommodate O’Neal if he demands a trade.

Apparently upset over Kupchak’s remarks, O’Neal canceled his exit interview. O’Neal, who has been one of Jackson’s biggest supporters, is under contract for two more years but could opt out after next season.

Fisher had until Saturday to make a decision regarding his contract situation, but it was extended to next Thursday. He will earn $3 million with the Lakers if he doesn’t opt out."

What will happen to the Lakers next :stuck_out_tongue:

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Lakers are going to rebuild the team around Kobe, provided he agrees to sign with the Lakers again and doesnt end up in jail. Lakers are the only team that can offer Kobe the max amount of $140 mil over 7 years. He is 25 and got good 10+ years to play.

Shaq wants to get traded and Laker GM has said that he will listen to him. Shaq is showing signs of age and wants more money and said earlier in the season that he would leave if his fav coach Phil left.

Stay tuned.

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Problem is the Lakers have to make their choice before they know if Kobe will end up in jail. Let's say they build a team around Kobe in the next three months and he spends the next 10 years in a small room with a guy named Bubbah.

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Myvoice, when Jerry Buss (Lakers owner) and GM Kupchak said they would like to keep Kobe at any cost and offer Kobe the max under the collective bargaining agreement - it showed how much confidence they had in Kobe's defence lawyers. Trial date is set for Aug 27 and is exptected to last 3-4 weeks and I personally believe he will be found not guilty. No its not my wishful thinking. Ive heard defence analysts saying that even if he gets convicted, he will only get maybe 20 year probation and no jail time with Bubba.

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You've got to keep Kobe at any cost but to build the team around him for next season, sorry, Jerry Buss has been the awesome owner, but here, he's flat out wrong.

Kobe doesn't avg. 10 boards PG, neither he has avg. 10 dimes. Last season, he started to play good defence, and made it to the 1st All NBA Defence team. You need of all that, picking up boards, making plays for your team-mates and defence to be a leader. And Kobe is just not there yet. I can see him becoming a leader but as of now, he is not the one. Kobe has the potential to make his teammates better. He just doesn't do it consistently. However, I think he'd be a far better creator if he was the focal point of the offense. I think the addition of Payton to this squad has made him a more reckless player. He figures that Gary will do all of the playmaking and he can just be a sniper on the wing

Shaq is a TEAM player, leader and those who don't think Shaq is what makes the Lakers a team to be feared...still now!

Lakers should really do everything they can to cool things off. Kupchak I thought did a terrible job pushing for so many moves while everyones emotions were still running high.

Shouldn't ever make business decisions when emotions everyone was still angry. There was no rush to get rid of Phil. Rudy T and the other candidates were gonna still be out there. And putting Shaq on the spot was really stupid, he's meant to much to this franchise to be essentially shown the door. Oh, I miss the good ol days of Jerry West!

I've come to really like the big fella, sure he got out of shape, sure he waited to take care of injuries, but he always played hard in the big moments and was never hesitant to use his size as a weapon to dominate weaker opponents to take the hard fouls.

His salary makes him almost untradeable. If he stays we actually have to do our homework and get role players in here cheap but still athletic enough to still have impact. Find me a player who's is 340 lbs, 7'1 and still can make the baseline jumper!