Months after Kobe Bryant demanded a trade, Lakers owner Jerry Buss openly talked about the possibility of dealing his star player this past offseason or even before February's trade deadline.
Buss
"I would certainly listen," Buss said. "At any time, I think you have to do that with anybody. It's just part of the game, to listen to somebody who has a dissatisfied player that you think is going to fit. You can't keep too many loyalties. You've got to look at it as a business. He looks at it the same way I look at it."
Bryant, the NBA's leading scorer the past two seasons, complained about a lack of talent around him at the end of last season. Bryant said May 30 he wanted to be traded, adding nothing could change his mind. He is owed $88.6 million over the next four seasons, but could terminate his contract in two years.
The Lakers haven't won a playoff series since reaching the NBA Finals in 2004 for the fourth time in five years. With Bryant and Shaquille O'Neal leading the way, they won three straight championships from 2000-02.
Buss said he even discussed specific trade proposals with Bryant and noted how the offers would hurt the Lakers in the long run.
"I even told him occasionally what I was offered," Buss said. "And I said, 'You have to know that this is not in favor of the Lakers. This would just be terrible to do.' And he said, 'I understand.' "
The Lakers owner also explained why trading someone like Bryant would be difficult.
"It's very hard to trade somebody like him because people who have enough material to make it worthwhile are usually contenders and they don't want to make the trade," Buss said. "What was offered was not ever under consideration. And I told Kobe that. I told him I would try my best to accommodate his wishes, but that I could not afford to let him go unless we got comparable talent, if there is such a thing."
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Source: ESPN.com
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