Lakers Would Be Fine With No Kobe?

[Pugz]

The Lakers claim that they would have been fine if Kobe Bryant bolted via free agency five years ago.

They may not be in the NBA Finals right now if Bryant had left, but they don't think they would be in the lottery either.

"Even though it would look different, not seeing him in a Laker uniform, to say that the Lakers would have been in the dumps forever is a tough one for me to say," guard Derek Fisher said.

Even Kobe feels as though the Lakers could have replaced him.

"You know, in every sport certain organizations always seem to find a way, and I believe the Lakers are one of them," Bryant said. "The Celtics obviously had a drought, but they put themselves back in the hunt. You look at baseball, the Yankees will always be around, the Red Sox will always be around. There's certain organizations that seem to find a way, and I believe the Lakers are one of them."

Kobe was a free agent in the summer of 2004, and considered an offer from the Clippers.

"You have to get to the point where you have leverage and he had all the leverage in the world," assistant coach Brian Shaw said. "Shaq was gone, Phil was gone, Payton and Malone, they were gone, and so it looked like the organization possibly could go in the other direction. So he had the ultimate leverage at that point and I think he did what he needed to do as a businessman to put the pieces in place that he wanted in place for the organization."

Via Yahoo! Sports

 

[Mexi]

lol wishful thinking here.
although we wouldn't have been down for long. We're the Lakers. We would have made a move for someone. Caron would have blossomed here rather than in DC. but whatever

now if Kobe left now, after this season, we would have LeBron in 2010. or if not him, then Wade or some super FA. c'mon, the LAKERS
but thats not happening

 

[I'm With ATL]

LMFAO. The Lakers cant win a championship with him, how do they figure they'd do good without him?