The Lakers no longer will build the team around Kobe Bryant.
The time of building a team around Kobe Bryant has come and gone, at least that’s the word from Los Angeles Lakers general manager Mitch Kupchak.
Speaking to local media, the GM suggested that it makes no sense for the Lakers to chase after high quality veteran talent for the next season or two only to mortgage their future by doing so.
“To jeopardize the next five or seven years,” GM Mitch Kupchak said, “To bring in old veterans that make a lot of money, just to win one more year, because that’s Kobe’s last year or could be his last year, I’m not sure that fits into doing it the right way.”
It’s an obvious statement, though, we’ve seen the Lakers make suggestions like this before only to see Kobe Bryant get his way when push comes to shove. However after the Black Mamba’s latest set of injuries and declining health/age, perhaps the Lakers have finally turned the corner and will build towards the future.
On the plus side for the Lakers, despite being one of the NBA’s worst teams for the last few seasons, they still bring with them a proud tradition and a history that would make any free agent drool at the thought of playing in Southern California, assuming the price is right.
Given that, once Bryant’s contract is off the books, the Lakers – assuming they do everything by the book – shouldn’t have an overly long re-tooling.
