LA Lakers superstar Kobe Bryant made his final NBA game on April 13, Wednesday. (Photo : Getty Images)
Perhaps one of the most outrageous and craziest trade rumors buzzing around the net today is the one mentioning Los Angeles Lakers superstar Kobe Bryant to being on the trading block in midseason if the Lakers' season continues to go down the drain.
An article written by Evan Massey at Classicalite said that Bryant "could be traded before the NBA trade deadline", even mentioning that he "has been struggling with the Lakers and there is no future for him with the franchise, which would make the Lakers' trading him a reasonable decision."
Massey also said that with Bryant potentially playing his final season in the NBA, his desire "to contend for a championship" may push him to allow the Lakers to trade him to a sure title contender, say the San Antonio Spurs, Cleveland Cavaliers, or Golden State Warriors.
However, there are lots of problems in this trade speculation, first and foremost is because Kobe has a no-trade clause in his contract which prohibits the Lakers to trade him without receiving his consent first.
The five-time NBA Champion had always been insistent that he wanted to finish his career with the Lakers and that he is "a Laker for life", as per ESPN, so from that standpoint it seems impossible that Bryant would want to switch teams just to win another championship especially at this late stage of his career.
If he wanted to do that, he would have already done it several years ago.
Another problem is are there really any teams interested in acquiring a 37-year-old, injury-prone, $25-million dollar, 20-year veteran who could not shoot above 40 percent from the field anymore?
No disrespect to Kobe, but it is obvious that he is way past his prime and that he only commands that big of a salary from the Lakers on the basis of his loyalty and what he had done for the illustrious franchise since he came into the league.
If this is Kobe's last season, then odds are he would stick to the Lakers until the very end. If not, then he may continue playing for Los Angeles next season or maybe go to China or anywhere else overseas. But not to another NBA team.
